Deborah Roberts features in 'Rituals of Resilience'

‘Rituals of Resilience’ is a group exhibition co-curated by musician Chaka Mkali (I Self Divine) and Curator and Head of Contemporary Art at The Minneapolis Institute of Art, Gabriel Ritter. This unique audio-visual experience combines 28 works by Black visual artists from the United States, Africa, and the greater African Diaspora with music created for the exhibition by Mkali and multiple collaborators.

The exhibition features artworks by visual artists including Kevin Beasley, Bisa Butler, Jordan Casteel, Deborah Roberts, Cinga Samson, and Billie Zangewa. The accompanying album draws from their lives and practise, developed from in-depth research on each artist and their lived experiences. Produced with Orko Eloheim and Medium Zach, the 16-track release explores themes of culture, identity, spirituality and power.

Chaka Mkali explains, “’Rituals of Resilience‘ is about the act of survival under intense pressure and heat. A place to hide when being in your body isn’t safe. A reimagining of new worlds and possibilities. The creative culture of Indigenous and diasporic ethnic groups of African descent surviving and dismantling 400 hundred years of white supremacy … through a visceral fabric of repetitious intentional movements, vibrations, gatherings, acts, symbols, and codes.”