Re-Memorizing Black Lesbian Legacies

As part of the exhibition series Lesbian Legacies, artist Tiona Nekkia McClodden and curator Birgit Bosold discuss ›Black Queer Genealogy‹ and the artistic engagement with and against the silence of the archives. The point of departure is McClodden’s current work Sleight of Figure [For Gladys] (2024), an impressive homage to the legendary performer Gladys Bentley, whose legacy has been largely erased. At the heart of the conversation is the concept of ›re-memorization‹ and the claim to a radical epistemic sovereignty of Black queer experiences, as called for by cultural theorist Tavia Nyong’o.