Shrine of the Divine Negress, DadaPost installation Berlin (Foto:Reinder Wijnveld, Berlin)
Goddess Project

The Goddess Projects (2009-current) consist of various art-works which use the French-American performer & social-activist Josephine Baker as its central leitmotif.

The Goddess Projects include:

  1. Shrine of the Divine Negress No.1

    2009, PVC, acrylic paint, colored gels, textiles, ± dims. 400cm x 275cm
    Installation at the Fortress of San Carlos de la Cabana in conjunction with the 10th Havana Biennale (re-installed at DadaPost Berlin in 2010)

  2. Divine Negress Butterfly Fans

    2009, Die-cut 4-color Offset printed cardboard and wood
    1000 hand-fans distributed to the Havana public with the citation: "A butterfly ('mariposa') flapping its wings can generate a violent storm"-Kofi Annan, Oslo

  3. The Goddess Constellations / 5:00.12.04.1975.48°51N2°21E

    2011, Textile, pins, embossed metal-foil, ± dims. 300cm x 350cm
    A 3-dimensional map of the sky above Paris (48°51N2°21E) marking the hour (5AM) of Josephine Baker's death on the 12th of April 1975, approximately 700 'stars' containing an embossed portrait of Josephine Baker

  4. The Goddess Constellations / Fragment Nr.1, Paris 5AM 12 April 1975

    (VARIATION) Velour-paper, foam, embossed metal 2011, 140cm x 100 cm

Footnotes: 
  1. 1.A short video of the Dada Post Gallery's Berlin Installation
  2. 2. The term Negress (négresse) refers to the complexities and contradictions of a term used in some Caribbean cultures with a sense of matriarchal empowerment, such as "belle négresse" implies in Haiti. The Bajan-American author and critic Hilton Al's illuminates the many facets of this term in his acclaimed book The Women (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1998). An interview between H.Als and author and artist Coco Fusco may be found in Bomb Magazine Online
  3. 3. A better understanding of the derivation and process of constructing the Constellations may be viewed on the Diary-blog
  4. 4. Josephine Baker adopted 12 children from around the world. Her family became known as the Rainbow Tribe