V: \u00bbDo you ever think of the sacrifices you made to become a mother?\u00ab<\/p>\r\n
Mama: \u00bbWhy?\u00ab<\/p>\r\n
V: \u00bbYou could have stayed and advanced your career and achieved so much.\u00ab<\/p>\r\n
Mama: \u00bbI couldn\u2019t have stayed away from you, besides, looking at you right now, you are by far my greatest achievement.\u00ab<\/p>\r\n
My mother and I had a conversation reflecting on what it meant to be black and African \u2013 how to her, sacrifices were seen as a part of life, assimilation done so subconsciously \u2013 because without assimilation there is no success.<\/span><\/p>\r\n I made this artwork as a dedication to her \u2013 pictured in her clothes \u2013 trying to capture the visual essence of a \u00bbgreat achievement.\u00ab I transform into a magical genie, manifested by her but yet our lived experiences are never touching. She stands on the parallel street, unseen \u2013 I hold the keys of education, of global opportunities \u2013 of apparent boundless possibility.<\/p>\r\n The long wait refers to Samuel Beckett\u2019s existential play, \u00bbWaiting for Godot;\u00ab the act of waiting in itself although being a powerless act, is still a transformational one. How long has my mother waited \u2026 how long must I wait? I am at the bus stand, disappearing and reappearing into myself \u2013 a half of two worlds, and somewhere in between. I hold the key, not only for myself, but everyone else who was waiting here before me.<\/p>\r\n We are histories. We are hybrids.<\/p>\r\n We are futures.<\/p>\r\n Valerie Asiimwe Amani<\/strong> is an artist, writer, curator, and art educator born in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Her multi-disciplinary approach incorporates textile, poetry, moving image, and digital collage; experimenting with notions of memory, hybrid spirituality, and the complexities of the body. Her work has been featured in various international exhibitions and publications; including The Main Complaint<\/em> at the Zeitz Mocaa and Magician: Black Bodies and Portraiture<\/em> at the FFCA<\/span> in Los Angeles.<\/p>"}]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.akademie-solitude.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29933","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.akademie-solitude.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.akademie-solitude.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.akademie-solitude.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.akademie-solitude.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29933"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.akademie-solitude.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29933\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.akademie-solitude.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29933"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"project","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.akademie-solitude.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project?post=29933"},{"taxonomy":"project_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.akademie-solitude.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project_type?post=29933"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}