In Milan, a festival turns the city into an Afrodescendant atlas

“Costellazioni” is the first festival conceived by Black History Month Milano (BHMM), the non-profit organization founded by artist and curator Jermay Michael Gabriel and psychotherapist Ronke Oluwadare, which studies, researches, and promotes Afro, Afro-descendant (that is, linked to communities of African origin and their descendants around the world), Black, and African cultures in the Milanese area, engaging visual arts, music, theatre, literature, and creativity in all its forms.

It is the first initiative of its kind in Milan, and the only one (so far) capable of bringing together cultural institutions, bars, galleries, artists, and intellectuals around a common goal: to create a platform — or rather, a constellation — that allows African-rooted cultural production in Italy to connect with the rest of the world.

“Costellazioni” takes place in some of the city’s most interesting venues: the Palazzo dell’Arte designed by Giovanni Muzio, the Chiesetta del Parco Trotter just steps away from via Padova — one of the most multicultural areas in Europe — and the nearby Spazio Bidet, a non-profit space hosted inside a wine shop. It stands out for its open and free approach to culture, as well as for the variety of themes it addresses, ranging from the politics of representation of Black artists in the European context to explorations of the body in conditions of hyper-capitalist production.

From October 9 to 12, there are many unmissable events. The exhibition by Moroccan artist Mohammed El Hajoui at Spazio Bidet, which explores the use of humble materials — natural powders and pigments — in painting; the masterclass by Nigerian artist Leo Asemota, whose cult films and photographic works have travelled from South Africa to the United States; and the screening of Rising up at Night Tongo Saa, a documentary by director Nelson Makengo dedicated to the lack of electricity, one of the most urgent issues in Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

And then, the performance by the duo Collective Relax, conceived as a counterpoint to colonialism and capitalist mandates of hyper-productivity, and a DJ set at Triennale Milano born from the radio project The Bridge, created by David Blank with BHMM, which invites Afro-descendant artists to explore — through different musical genres — the plurality of their origins.

“Costellazioni” is a new cultural map for the city which, as the founders affirm, “does not fill absences, but reclaims presences that have long been made invisible, transforming them into networks, systems, and plural narratives.” An opportunity to restore, discover, and recognize creative voices already rooted in the urban fabric, yet often ignored, untold, or rendered invisible by institutions.

Opening image: Collective Relax. Courtesy Bhmm