“THE AIR REMEMBERS”

CHALE WOTE FESTIVAL - ACCRA, GHANA - AUGUST 2025

Parachutes carry heavy metaphorical weight. They have been used to drop supplies, weapons, or even troops into war-torn territories. They can mean the difference between freedom and occupation, or invasion under the guise of protection.

The significance of parachutes in this installation evokes themes of colonial intervention, ghostly remnants of war, and the transformation of violence into beauty and ritual. It is in these rituals that people find solace, meaning, and often restored faith. In this work parachutes are the threat, and ultimately the conduit the community’s restoration after the violence dissipates. Scents of burning buildings, rusted metal, burning rubber, blood, body, incenses, fresh air, flowers, soil, and the rainforest rest beneath the parachute canopy. Additionally, I formulated a fragrance specifically for the festival titled “Ubiquity”, an ode to cobalt and the world’s ravenous bloodlust for the element.

This piece invites guests to move beneath the canopy meditatively, breathing in what is and what could be. Fragrance has an extremely powerful connection to memory. My hope is that this ensures that we remember and consider the Democratic Republic of The Congo. The Air Remembers much of what has occurred, but it is the soil that will remember long after.

Mediums: aromachemicals, textiles, archival sound, clay, gold foil