Paul MahekeMutual Survival, Lorde’s Manifesto, 2015
'Mutual Survival, Lorde’s Manifesto' is a two-channel colour video installation, which exemplifies French-born Maheke’s investigation of the politics surrounding Black people and their representation. His work investigates gender and racial stereotypes, exploring questions of identity construction and queer Black histories through choreographed performance, video and sound as well as installation.
The title references the American Black feminist writer and activist Audre Lorde (1934–1992) whose words, borrowed and edited together from her essay ‘I am Your Sister’ published in 1985, caption the video intermittently. ‘As a people, we should most certainly work together to end our common oppression,’ the video subtitle begins. ‘We need to join our differences and articulate our particular strengths in the service of our mutual survivals.’
