Controversial Identity

22 August 2023 | 19h30 

Curated by Jermay Michael Gabriel Cappellin

“Controversial Identity” is a workshop led by artist Jermay Micheal Gabriel, who explores the inadequacy of black bodies in recognizing their identity in the European context. Jermay invites participants to reflect on the complexity of their identity in an ever-changing and often fragmented world.

The workshop is an opportunity to explore power dynamics, colonial history and intersecting prejudices that are intricately woven into the formation of Afro-European identity. It aims to bring out these hidden nuances and address the concept of “crisis of the self” that is at the heart of the workshop, as participants explore how the lack of a stable identity can generate a feeling of emptiness and disorientation. The struggle to find a place in contemporary Europe often leads to a melancholy of identity, a sense of nostalgia for roots and culture of origin that seem distant and unreachable. The feeling of “forgetting” refers to the risk of completely losing one’s identity in an attempt to conform to cultural, familial and social norms that may be alien or oppressive. “Controversial Identity” is an opportunity to break the silence on these issues and probe the depths of the human soul and reflect on the complexity of Afro-European identities. Part of the method is the use photos of family arcs and memories of one’s own experience put into elaboration through combustions and collages of gold leaf and dark colors.