Kahlil Joseph

Kahlil Joseph (1981, Seattle) is interested in moving images in all forms –from video clips to commercials and news footage. Today, we are showing his project BLKNWS: a fictional news channel broadcasting from a Black perspective. The project is constantly updated, so every screening is a little different. By combining current and historical images concerning Black culture, Joseph probes the way Black lives are observed and represented in media and the arts. Using the split-screen technique and dynamic montage, he combines film clips, archival material and TV footage, criticising stereotypes and unravelling the power structures underpinning the dominant media.

We are also screening two of Joseph’s short films. Black Mary (2017) is portrait of singer Alice Smith, inspired by the work of American photographer Roy DeCarava (1919-2009). In Process (2017), Joseph follows London-based musician Shampa.

The programme is introduced by Marian Cousijn (Eye) and Marian Duff. Duff is director of Open Space Contemporary Art Museum (OSCAM), a museum that brings together contemporary fashion, art and design and where a previous version of BLKNWS was shown in 2019. She has a background as an independent curator in the fields of fashion and contemporary art, specialising in youth culture and subcultures. Duff was born in Surinam, has French-Guianan roots, grew up in Haarlem and lives in Amsterdam. She is also a coach at the Patta Academy, a co-founder of City Collective Amsterdam, a fellow at the HKU University of the Arts Utrecht and a member of the Supervisory Board of the Bonnefanten museum.

The introduction will be in Dutch and the films in English.