Declaration of Independence

"Declaration of Independence" (DOI) is a project of collective study, installations and iterative performances inspired by by Ama Ata Aidoo's poem "As Always a Painful Declaration" from her 1992 collection An Angry Letter in January". DOI began in 2017 at the Diaspora Pavilion in Venice. This ongoing project reflects on the declarations made in conference halls, parliament buildings, and other forums where diplomatic negotiations, treaties of independence, coalitions, trade deals, manifestos and other policies happen. These are spaces where the voices of Black and of colour, women, trans and non-binary folx are rarely heard.

This is for us
A declaration of our independence
Our interdependence

Asante works with groups of ‘contributor-performers’ to share stories and personal experiences of the legacies of slavery and colonialism that live in our present. Together we create individual and collective declarations that have come together as video installations, live performances and sound pieces, foregrounding, the importance of collective action, the value of personal narratives in history and the daily rituals that enhance our experiences of living.