Thulani Rachia and Paul Shofolahan

Thulani Rachia and Paul Shofolahan's work, on remembering Our Hands, is a process of place-making through the use of scenography, sound and the performing black body.

This collaborative process of translating urban and architectural design principles in the context of performance endeavours to create black-affirming space.

“If the urban designer – in seeking to respond to the multiple publics they serve – identifies that the underrepresentation or misrepresentation of Blackness in public space is a problem, then it is important that they recognize their position to influence change. As a predominantly future-oriented discipline, along with other place-making professions, the task inherently is to build new futures. So, for the designer to do this appropriately they must be able to produce space both as an abstraction and as a practice. Meaning, they must be able to visualize a future of space before undergoing a process to create it…the discourse of place and space can serve as an appropriate starting point en-route to creating a Black-affirming (public) space.”
Ishmael Nuñez Pedraza

Follow the artist on Instagram @thulani_rachia

Photo: Thulani Rachia