We’re thrilled to share some exciting news: Kalunga XR artwork project by Bianca Turner & Luanda Carneiro Jacoel has obtained the International Support grant from OCA (Office for Contemporary Art Norway). 

MANIFEST Consortium joins the celebrations of this achievement, which marks a significant milestone for the promotion of innovative artworks. We are grateful for the support of OCA for one of our project’s artwork. The grant will support the production expenses of our artists.

Kalunga XR is a MANIFEST project and the latest artistic endeavour of artists Bianca Turner and Luanda Carneiro. Throughout an immersive experience, the performance aims at inspiring a reflection on the present meanings of Kalunga, a Congolese expression which translates both as ‘the sea’ and ‘burial grounds’, in relation to the history of transatlantic trade of enslaved people and the Afro–Diaspora that results from this journey throughout the sea. This audiovisual performance is based on a communication between music, dance and the installation that takes place in real time. Their fruitful combination generates dialogue and dramaturgy with a strong relevance between body, space and time, transforming the space and the audience perspectives.

Kalunga XR is one of the artistic works in progress developed as part of Project MANIFEST, which brings talented artists and collectives from 13 countries together and represents multidisciplinary creative strands from cinema to music, poetry, film, and digital art that will contribute with new artistic perspectives to re-imagine Europe’s collective memory of the transatlantic trade of enslaved people.

Stay updated to learn more about the upcoming events!