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In a forest a man covered in ritual paints carries out a dance. He gets to the water and the story begins: "When the dark people first met at the shores of America they were African and Indian. Spiritual cousins (...)". White European culture is put forward as a third contrast. Christian-based thinking in terms of Good and Evil, Heaven and Hell, is of a totally different order. For black people it is the intersection of extremes that is important, as embodied by the dancing, painted Elegba. He appeared to the videomaker in a dream, and was first thought to be the devil. Gradually it becomes clear which role Elegba plays, and the charm of the story and the images increases. Two interracial relationships are threaded through the plot. In the female-female storyline adoration of the Black Madonna, ritual washing and final parting are central, while in the male-male story we pay a visit to the Garden of Eden in the French countryside. A black and a white man play with each other ("The black race is desired by white Europeans"), but not only does the presence of the camera interfere with their paradaisical state, they are also observed by Elegba. Change and parting are approaching. The white Alain develops aids and when the black man visits Europe again after five years, Alain does not believe in love or joy anymore. The video ends with shots of Alain waving from his hammock and Elegba appearing once more. Harris has succeeded in showing the universal and the personal, the spiritual and the topical brilliantly and delivers a richly complex piece with this work. As he plays the role of Elegba himself, he also comments on the function of the artist as 'cultural warrior' within society.
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Ingrid van Santen
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Camera: Alain Pistolozzi, Patrick Fernier, Sound: Jennifer Lewis, Music: Afro Cuban Lucumi Bata Ceremonial Drumming, Voices: Bernelda Wheeler, Tom Hill, Michael Mackenzie, Haruko Okano, With: Ayisha Abraham, Andrea Fatona, Thomas Allen Harris, Patrick Fernier, Alain Pistolozzi, With thanks to: Greg Russell, Daba Riddle, Aim Peggy Nelson, Dawn Suggs, George Lewis, Glen Ligon, J. Ndukaku Amankulor, Juana Diaz, Kym Ragusa, Lorna Johnson, Lyle Ashton Harris and others, Production: Flapping Wings Productions
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