In The Dream House

In The Dream House
2023-present

In The Dream House is a research project that focuses on forms of de-traumatisation work through somatic, holistic and spiritual healing work with survivors of institutional and domestic abuse. The artist builds intersectional healing practices through the certification of herbalist practice and decolonial therapy studied in London, the U.S. and Berlin. Forms of body work through tap therapy, EMDR, sonic healing, medicinal therapy, herbalism, decolonial yoga and obeah ritual are guides to develop exit pathways to build a sustainable life of inner peace. Based on the novels from Carmen Maria Machado's "In The Dream House" and José Esteban Muñoz's " Cruising Utopia: The Then and There of Queer Futurity", the project combines a series of interventions and invocations as exhibitions, live rituals, mobile archive libraries, reading groups, workshops, public talks, film screenings and radio shows to provide guidance to those affected by toxic cycles.

The project is made with guest collaborators working in human rights organisations, lawyers, activists, as therapists, healers, artists and social workers. Guests include: International Women Space, Ausland, ECCHR, Nane Kahle, Lee Modupeh Anansi Freeman, Mitolili, Adrian Marie Blount, Bino Byansi Byakuleka, Care, Kunstquartier Bethanien, Tempelhof LGBTQ Police department, Les Migras and Refuge Worldwide.

In The Dream House is a series of soma-holistic therapy interventions through collective workshops, immersive exhibitions and radio to empower victims and survivors after domestic and institutional abuse. After their studies in Psycho-Therapy (focus on personality disorders) and Decolonising Therapeutic Practices in the UK, the artist works at the intersections of trauma therapy, herbalism, literature, music, law and artistic practices for collective healing. In collaboration with Ausland Berlin and ACUD Macht Neu.

The session is a multi-sensory workshop focusing on legal resources, somatic therapy, healing historical trauma, collective readings and ancestral healing as tools of protection against domestic violence notably within queer relationships. Focusing on radical black feminist queer practices through activism and transformational justice, we will focus on short readings from Semra Ertan, Carmen Maria Machado and Bell Hooks to introduce trauma-informed healing bodies as tools against institutional and domestic abuse within queer migrant affected communities focusing on race relations. Artistic sonic, film and print material from International Women* Space and Nyabinghi Lab introduce voices from black feminist resistance movements through drawing therapy. We discover what are safe and consensual exchanges, releasing trauma from our bodies; processing grief and trauma bond; tools to safely exit spaces of coercive control; somatic expression and voice; somatic tools for self-care and protection rituals for growth. The workshop invites special guests and is part of an ongoing series in collaboration with International Women’s Space and Refuge Worldwide.

Guest collaborators include:
Lee Modupeh Anansi Freeman
Mitolili
Adrian Marie Blount
Bino Byansi Byakuleka
Care

Obeah: Thiouraye
Decolonising Herbalist Practices
(Illness As A Weapon)
Kunstraum Bethanien, 2024

photos by Eric Tschernow, Anguezomo Mba Bikoro
courtesy of Kunstraum Bethanien, 2024

The artist critically reflects against archival colonial somatic body theory by engaging practices of restorative justice through rituals to provide Black women with safe access to discrimination-sensitive medicine and mental health support notably affected by chronic illness from domestic violence.
Anguezomo Mba Bikoro brings traces of the Obeah ritual to life in the art space and creates an intimate atmosphere in which ideas of healing can be perceived. The Obeah ritual active in Jamaica and has its origins on the west coast of the African continent. It has long been practiced in families and communities to create connections to people and ancestors and to deal with intergenerational trauma. The rituals were criminalized in the course of colonization and are still enshrined as punishable by law in countries colonized by Great Britain. As a healer and artist, Mba Bikoro performs Obeah rituals with a connection to restorative justice. They examine the current violence of the healthcare system and show how an intimate and safe environment can be created to enable comprehensive healing. Their focus is on the health of Black women who have experienced domestic violence, including physical, psychological, sexualized, social, emotional and economic violence. This type of violence often manifests itself in the form of chronic illnesses and the various injuries are dependent on holistic treatment in order to heal. Mba Bikoro's work invites us to understand Black women's resistance as rituals or as revolt. They work with archives that are both historical and biographical and creates a space for exchange through sensory connections.

We Who Move The World Forward:
Listening to Resistance Inside Germany's Migrant Histories

the series of panel talks are available to listen to on our Refuge WorldWide online radio channel

photos courtesy of ACUD Macht Neu
photographers Muhammed Lamin Jadama, Anguezomo Mba Bikoro

PANEL DISCUSSIONS, RADIO SHOW, LIVE PERFORMANCES, EXHIBITION & WORKSHOPS
February – July 2024
Opening and performances: 2.2. – 18:00 Kunsthaus ACUD
Exhibition: 2.2. – 10.3.2024 (9.3. finissage) ACUD Galerie

Panel discussions and radio shows:
8.2.- I COME FROM HOME: MENTAL HEALTH & IDENTITY POLITICS
8.3.- UNCANNY: THE POLITICS OF (DE)HOMELANDIZATION
18.4.- WEARY / MY NAME IS FOREIGNER: ON ANCESTRAL HEALING
9.5.- THE FIRE THAT IGNITED HER*: EDUCATION & REPAIRS IN THE MUSEUM
13.6.- SCORCHED EARTH: VOICING RESISTANCE, UPRISINGS,
(DIS-)POSITIONING CULTURES
4.7.- SEX AND THE HOMELAND: VOICES INSIDE THE CAMPS AND DOMESTIC PROTECTION

We Who Move The World Forward is a project in 6 chapters with conversations, live performances, workshops and an exhibition at Kunsthaus ACUD between February and July 2024. The project amplifies the voices of migrant workers, feminist activists, trauma survivors and displaced people to activate resources for protection, solidarity and support in dealing with integration, displacement and mental health. These will be strengthened through networks, alternative support structures and community solidarity at a time when migrant communities are at their most vulnerable. The program explores historical colonial practices related to integration processes of foreigners and examines community resources, gendered experiences and forms of reparation in the lives of refugees and cultural spaces. This program is curated by Anguezomo Mba Bikoro and Fetewei Tarekegn and hosted by ACUD MACHT NEU and ACUD Gallerie.
The lives of the four protagonists Fasia Jansen, Semra Ertan, May-Ayim and Sista Mimi with their struggles within German integration and migration law and the political landscapes of West and East Germany from the post-war period to the present, are traced together with lesser-known perspectives from three waves of German migration history. We contextualize them with movements that shaped the experiences of migration and discrimination of the four protagonists: guest workers, contract workers and the Berlin refugee movement. These are presented in the project chapters by actors who were involved in the development and strengthening of these movements.

The lives of the four protagonists Fasia Jansen, Semra Ertan, May-Ayim and Sista Mimi with their struggles within German integration and migration law and the political landscapes of West and East Germany from the post-war period to the present, are traced together with lesser-known perspectives from three waves of German migration history. We contextualize them with movements that shaped the experiences of migration and discrimination of the four protagonists: Gastarbeiter, Vertragsarbeiter and the Berlin refugee movement. These are presented in the project chapters by actors who were involved in the development and strengthening of these movements.

Participants:
Sheriff Adenkule, Hossam Aldeen, Cana Bilir-Meier, Adrian Marie Blount, Nino Bulling, Hamze Bytyci, Aïssatou Ciss…, Tubman Network / Khabit Ebob Enow, Jasmin Eding (ADREFRA roots), The Garden Archive / Fetewei Tarekegn, Gayture Gai , Imad Gebrael, HerrFrauMeko, Sarah Imani, International Women* Space, Jennifer Kamau, Mmakgosi Kgabi, Orakle Ngoy, Mmakgosi Kgabi, Thabo Thindi, Zwoizy Mears-Clarke, Muhammed Lamin Jadama, Amine Mohammed, Wilson Mungai, Yergalem Taffere, Ina Wudtke and many more.
funded by: Hauptstadtkulturfonds Berlin