We invite you to spend an evening with multi-talented artist, musician and filmmaker Baloji, as he hosts a night at the ICA exploring the themes of his award-winning first feature film, Omen (Augure) which is being screened internationally and currently screening in the ICA Cinema.

Omen explores the weight of beliefs on one’s destiny through four characters accused of being witches and sorcerers, all of them intertwined and guiding each other into the phantasmagoria of Africa.

The evening will unfold with an introduction by Baloji, followed by a presentation by Damselfrau to accompany a special display of her mask archive, then a discussion between Baloji,  Akinola Davies and ICA talks and research curator Susanna Davies-Crook, followed by new film Infinite Trolling, a performance by poet JJ Bola and a special guest appearance by Jamila Woods who will perform her own music and collaboration Gorgone (Too old) with Baloji from the fourth disc in Baloji’s album Mama Mujila. Then we go into the night with a special set from Ehua.

This ICA event is supported by NOWNESS and NATAAL

In association with Not Just Any

More about OMEN (Augure)

Baloji, Belgium, Democratic Republic of the Congo / Drama / Experimental / 1h31m / French, Swahili with English subtitles

Baloji’s first feature film won the New Voice Award in the Un Certain Regard section at the 76th Cannes Film Festival and was Belgium's 2024 Oscar submission for Best International Feature. This magic realist film is a tale of family, relationships, suspicion and belonging. It navigates the thin layer between reality and sorcery and centres Koffi, a young Congolese man who travels back to his hometown in Kinshasa to reunite with his family and culture. Four characters bring different worlds and perspectives which intersect through chapters in the film, each adding a new dimension as the narrative unfolds.

The soundtrack of Augure was released earlier this month, a 4 disc album written and composed from the point of view of the 4 main characters in the feature. It is both a complementary back-story of the characters and a musical piece in his own right.

Beyond the screen, the film has inspired an exhibition, Augurism at the Fashion Museum in Antwerp which delves into Baloji’s past and contemporary archives of images, props, costumes and videos: it is about mending the past and dragging it into the present.

Schedule

1900 - 1915 Introduction by Baloji 
1915 - 1925 Screening: extracts from Augure (Omen) feature film 
1925 - 1935 Presentation by Damselfrau
1935 - 1945 Screening: Peau de Chagrin / Bleu de Nuit featuring masks by Damselfrau 
1945 - 2005 [break] Screening: Infinite Trolling also available on Nowness
2005 - 2045 Baloji in conversation with ICA Talks & Research Curator Susanna Davies-Crook and Akinola Davies 
2045 - 2055 [break] Baloji album listening session
2055 - 2130 JJ Bola live 
2130 - 2200 Live: Jamila Woods / Baloji
2200- 2300 Live DJ set: Ehua
2300 close

*****

JJ Bola is a Writer and Poet, born in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, and raised in London, UK. His has published three collections of poetry. His debut novel No Place to Call Home was published in 2017 in the U.K, and the US. As well as his second novel, The Selfless Act of Breathing which was published in 2021. He has also written a non-fiction book on masculinity called Mask Off, which was published in 2019, and a children’s book, Fly Boy, published in 2023. His work has been translated into several languages, including German, French, Brazilian-Portuguese, Italian and more.

Chicago artist Jamila Woods is a poet, songwriter, and performer whose work blurs boundaries between poem and song. Jamila's poetic influences include June Jordan, Gwendolyn Brooks and Lucille Clifton. An internationally touring artist, Jamila has performed in support of artists such as Raphel Saadiq, Corinne Bailey Rae, Brittany Howard and Common. She has released three studio albums, HEAVN, LEGACY! LEGACY! and most recently and Water Made Us (2023). Her music explores themes of Blackness, belonging, growing up in Chicago, introspection, self-determination, self-love and intergenerational lessons on love.

Akinola Davies is a BAFTA-nominated and Sundance Award-winning filmmaker and visual artist; his work spans nations to explore themes of community, race, spirituality, identity and gender, telling stories that bridge the gap between generations and communities. Akinola’s narrative short film‘Lizard’ was nominated for BAFTA Best British Short Film in 2021, and won the Sundance Grand Jury Prize and the Blackstar Film Festival Short Film Award.

Damselfrau (Magnhild Kennedy) work with masks as autonomous works of art as well as action-objects: the mask as a place where different elements come together as situation. The work is about this place-situation, more so than the mask as a theme or category of form. The mask is a place.

Ehua is an Italian producer and DJ who has been making waves since the release of her 2018 debut EP, ‘Diplozoon’. She has since played at some of the world’s most iconic clubs and festivals, and she holds a bimonthly residency at Rinse FM, where she explores percussion-influenced sonic realms across a wide range of tempos. Her recent releases include ‘Clouds' EP(3024), ‘Aquamarine’ (Nervous Horizon), an EP inspired by the colour and motion of water.