Sedje Hémon (1923-2011) dedicated her life to showing the common origin and intersectionality of all arts and sciences, culminating in the development of a theory for the “integration of the arts.”
Hémon’s multifaceted approach grew out of the urgency of her time and the need for creative expressions that she developed in the face of political ostracization and physical disability. Her lifelong traumas, coupled with her omission from art history, have not altered Hémon’s legacy, which offers tools, compositions, and methodologies for self-determined world-making.
Hémon’s oeuvre showcases inextricable connections between the physical and celestial dimensions that define our common existence.
Sedje Hémon – Emotion of Spirits
Contributions by Amal Alhaag, Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung, Ibrahim Cissé, Sophie Douala, Zippora Elders, Krista Jantowski, Aude Christel Mgba, Gwen Parry, Peter Jasper Wapperom, Elmyra van Dooren, Cannach MacBride, Siji Jabbar, Claire van Els, Marianna Maruyama, Maurice Rummens, Romy Rüegger, Jake Schneider
15.5 x 23.5 cm
Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung
Abstracting Parables
These readers are published in conjunction with Abstracting Parables (July 1 – October 16, 2022), which consists of an exhibition presented as a triptych and a sonic journey through guides, scripts, rituals, and murmurings. It brings together
the artistic positions of Sedje Hémon (1923-2011), Abdias Nascimento (1914-2011) and Imran Mir (1950-2014).
It is curated by Amal Alhaag and Aude Christel Mgba with the support of Zippora Elders, Krista Jantowski and Stedelijk curator Claire van Els, under the artistic direction of Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung for sonsbeek20→24 and Rein Wolfs for Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam.
The exhibition is framed within the quadrennial sonsbeek20→24 “Force Times Distance: On Labour and Its Sonic Ecologies,” Arnhem, the Netherlands.
Abstracting Parables is developed in partnership with the Sedje Hémon Foundation, Afro-Brazilian Studies and Research Institute (IPEAFRO) and the Imran Mir Art Foundation. The exhibition is a joint partnership between Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam and Stichting Sonsbeek.