JENNIFER HARGE + DEVIN DRAKE:
A CLEARING

APRIL 14 – SEPTEMBER 10, 2023

a clearing  is an experimental folktale that honors the self-sovereignty of Black women and the relational ecosystems that have ensured our survival across generations. Its MOCAD presentation is a chapter of an ongoing chronological collaborative series between performance artist Jennifer Harge and filmmaker Devin Drake. Their respective practices center on storytelling as a platform for the Black queer collective and personal liberation. This work is a continuation of Harge’s FLY | DROWN, a series of fables intimately situated within the context of Black femme flesh, imaginations, dreamscapes, prayers, and homes.

Their collaboration originated in 2014 as a documentative exchange where Drake would transfer Harge’s movement and choreographic research into digital stories. Over the years, their artistic partnership has evolved into a practice of presence and patience, reflected in a clearing. This work is rooted in symbiotic inquiry, where the artists are, in concert, creating a visual allegory or a call and response on Black freedom. It evokes imagined ancestral space where communion across generations thrives from sites of domesticity to open fields of play and possibility. a clearing  welcomes viewers into Black feminist methods for pacing–a practice that allows for a suspension of time to create room for slow listening of body, mind, and land.

a clearing  is organized by the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit. It is supported by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

Image: Jennifer Harge and Devin Drake, a clearing. Film still, runtime: 13 minutes. Courtesy of the Artists.