Gabrielle Goliath presents her first solo exhibition in Switzerland, 'This song is for ...' at the Kunsthaus Baselland.
Goliath locates her multidisciplinary art practice within the histories and everyday experiences of black, brown, femme and queer life, and in response to the conditions of precarity and violence that continue to shape post-colonial and post-apartheid social conditions.
Goliath gained international recognition with her groundbreaking installation 'This song is for ... 'which debuted in Kyiv in 2019, following years of research, encounters, interviews and collaborations. Since then, the work has travelled widely, initiating discussions in diverse sociopolitical contexts. For this complex two-channel video installation, Goliath asked survivors of rape to share with her a song of deep and personal significance, whether related to their experience of trauma or their journey of healing. These songs were subsequently re-performed by a collaborating group of women and gender-queer led musical ensembles. In this moving work, now on show in Switzerland for the first time, the dedication songs and shared testimonies of the ten survivors speak to the global severity of sexual violence, and powerfully reaffirm claims to life, love and hope in the wake of unspeakable violence.
