For O Quilombismo, Leo Asemota constructs a work drawn primarily from Yoruba knowledge values of ìmò (experience) and òótó (attestation) and Abdias Nascimento’s ABC of Quilombismo. Its ideas fixate on three letters K, W, and Y, which are not used in Brazilian Portuguese words except in estrangerismos, words borrowed from other languages. In the ABC of Quilombismo, Nascimento assigns the letters K to Kimbundu and Y to Yoruba to proclaim the origins and bond of Afro-Brazilians with African religious and cultural identity; Asemota assigns W to work to encapsulate the sense of labour and economy in Nascimento’s ideology.

Commissioned by Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW), co-produced by Leo Asemota and HKW, 2023.

Work in the exhibition: (H)-KWY: òótó (2023): Flight Path I: Within / Beyond, graphite and acrylic on paper in gold blocked titled green Nigerian goatskin sketch holder with gold gilt corners, 14 × 22 cm; Flight Path II: Star (2023), graphite on paper in gold blocked titled green Nigerian goatskin sketch holder with gold gilt corners, 14 × 22 cm; Flight Path III: NE / SW (2023), graphite on paper in gold blocked titled green Nigerian goatskin sketch holder with gold gilt corners, 14 × 22 cm; Flight Path IV: NW (2023), graphite on paper in gold blocked titled green Nigerian goatskin sketch holder with gold gilt corners, 14 × 22 cm; Flight Path V: Deep South (2023), graphite on paper in gold blocked titled green Nigerian goatskin sketch holder with gold gilt corners, 14 × 22 cm; Exu and Ogum (After Abdias do Nascimento) (2023), wrought iron, 50 × 170 cm; Primer, Orhue (kaolin) and gold leaf, dimensions vary. Other material: ten palm fronds, orhue (kaolin) on Brazilian timber, 30 × 45 cm; Four screens with HD color films and sound (with the unedited video recording of ìmò recurring at 18:00 daily at the exact time at which the live artwork was originally presented). Courtesy of the artist

(H)-KWY ìmò, live artwork by Leo Asemota on Sunday, 4 June 2023, 18:00.