A Litany for Homegoing

What is it about?

This poem honours the stories of 13 women who were enslaved in Cape Town, South Africa, during the time of Dutch Colonial rule. It was written in response to the exhibition, Under Cover of Darkness, which ran at the Iziko Slave Lodge Museum in Cape Town, from 2018 to 2021. The poem was performed live on site, as a closing ritual to the exhibitio, to honour the women, thank them for their stories and lay their spirits to rest.

Featured Image

Photo by kylefromthenorth™️ on Unsplash

Photo by kylefromthenorth™️ on Unsplash

Why is it important?

When working with colonial archives to reclaim and re-imagine the stories of our ancestors, we rarely address the spiritual aspect of the work. That is, to name those who have passed on, is in fact calling up their spirits to be present with us. The Western rational gaze rarely takes into account the spiritual/unseen realms in academic and artistic work such as this. This poem brings sacred spiritual practice into academic/artistic archival work. The words in the text speak to this directly, and the fact that the poem was performed on-site as a closing ritual does so too. A video of the performance can be seen online.