Black Portraitures III : Johannesburg

Spirit Desire is a series of photographic essays by photographer Sokari Ekine, that explore African Diasporic spiritual practices as spaces of resistance, imagination and sacred memories. The first series [Memwa sakre: – lespri ki nan nou menm. Sacred memories: -The spirits within us ] is a celebration of Haitian Vodoun as a site of resistance, decolonization and community.

The work of Sokari was recently presented by Alexis De Veaux at  “Black Portraitures III : Reinventions: Strains of Histories and Cultures” in Johannesburg, 17 – 19, November, 2016.

The series of photographs “made” by the Nigerian British, self-described black queer feminist photographer Sokari Ekine, beginning in 2013, in Haiti, usher in the photographer’s project, “Spirit Desire.” As codified by Ekine, the project attempts to document [and, ultimately, participate in] black diasporic spiritual practices. Spending extended periods of time in Haiti, Ekine documents ritual, ceremonial, and everyday practices in multiple Haitian spiritual communities known as “lakou.”