I Love Ancient Baby
In the film I Love Ancient Baby, Jala Wahid animates museum artefacts against a bright pink backdrop to the tune of dance music accompanied by phrases superimposed on the succession of images. Playing cards distributed to American soldiers during the invasion of Iraq appear, indicating which monuments were to be spared. The film then changes register, as a text evokes a dreamlike encounter with her deceased father, a few years earlier. Here, the objects suggest that the past still inhabits the present and that time is not linear. This idea is echoed in the mention of her unborn child, whose expected presence refers to the rebirth of the artefacts. The last section of the film returns to these sculptures with their vibrant colours and movements, filled with new possible meanings, finally freed from the endless repetition of the violence of colonial history.
Text written by Alessia Damioli as part of the partnership between the École du Louvre and Lafayette Anticipations – Fonds de dotation Famille Moulin.
Exhibitions
Primary, Nottingham (Angleterre)
from 08 Jun to 17 Aug 2024
Niru Ratnam, Londres (Angleterre)
from 06 Jul to 10 Aug 2024
Gesellschaft für Aktuelle Kunst, Bremen (Allemagne)
from 18 Nov 2023 to 17 Mar 2024