KUKILY

…a transnational afrofeminist arts collective

Who are we

Kukily was born during the 31st National Women’s Forum (Argentina)—an independent political forum bringing together 60,000+ women/trans/non-binary folks— in 2016, where members Colleen, Jasmin, Juli, and Lina met for the first time. This 31st edition was also the first time the “Afrodescendent Women” workshop existed; it was no coincidence that we all met here.

Our different nationalities and diverse personal histories combine to create a common vision around topics such afrodescendent identity, the place of afrodescendent women in socitiety, and the necessity to express ourselves through art.

We are based in Argentina, Brasil, and the US, working with a truly global perspective of the African Diaspora.

What we do

The collective creates interdisciplinary work through the mediums of installation, performance, curation, community-engaged art, and video/short film.

We combine our individual and shared experience in theater, film, performance art, dance, audiovisual work, music, community-organizing and scholarship. We use the intersection of these languages to investigate new aesthetics that fully represent us.

We are currently working “locally” in the three countries we reside in, as well as transnationally. Feel free to reach out at colectivokukily@gmail.com

Current work

We are currently working on a new piece entitled XTRÆNCESTRAL. It is a performance installation being developed across our African Diaspora and set it premiere in 2023 at the Lagos Biennial.

In the year 3050 a group of Black women embark on a journey to the present, bringing with them knowledge, stories, colors, smells, and flavors that awaken a new vision of an alternate future—a future full of life. They come bearing with them the essential news that the future is Black.

Past work

In 2018 Kukily developed a performative installation entitled *Negra, negra, negra soy (Black, black, I am black) which premiered at the Centro Cultural de la Memoria Haroldo Conti (ARG) in November 2018. This rendition featured 20 original texts performed by afrodescendent women collaborators, a unique installation in the space, and a series of community-bonding activities.

We’ve created an oasis—a sort of non-place—that exists to be inhabited by the experiences of Afrodescendent women. Afrodescendent women joining together and occupying the space with their political and artistic vision. We pay homage to Afroperuvian poet, Victoria Santa Cruz, and yell out together “negra, negra, negra soy” (Black, Black, I am Black).

*title derived from the work of Afro-Perivuan poet, Victoria Santa Cruz

We also have a performance piece entitled Bustos, which we performed at the Encuentro de Performance y Género (ARG/’17), Maratón de Performance (ARG/’18), Maratón LODO (ARG/’18), and a self-produced site-specific series of 4 performances during October 2018.

We’ve given talks in universities, art spaces and radio shows on topics such as working in collective, Black women in film, Contemporary practices of Black women artists in Buenos Aires. In July 2018, we facilitated a group artistic activity for the event “AFRONTA - Encounter for Women of the Diaspora”.

[Fee support for Kukily through collective member, Colleen Ndemeh Fitzgerald, may be available to nonprofit organizations through the New England States Touring (NEST) program of the New England Foundation for the Arts. Visit www.nefa.org for more information.]