JOURNAL: Sitting On A Man’s Head
Sitting On A Man’s Head is a practice and an installation by Okwui Okwpokwasili and Peter Born. This work was the centerpiece of the Danspace Project PLATFORM 2020: Utterances From The Chorus, co-curated by Okpokwasili and Judy Hussie-Taylor. Sitting On A Man’s Head, developed from Okpokwasili’s research into “Sitting on a Man,” an embodied practice of protest conducted by Southeastern Nigerian Women, instrumental in 1929, at the onset of the “Women’s War.” This five minute video (edited by Peter Born) is pulled from documentation of a February performance. This is an excerpt of a recurring four hour practice that engaged a rotating assembly of 30+ activators.
Directed by Okwui Okpokwasili & Peter Born
Production Manager/Technical Director: Michaelangelo DeSario
Collaborative Engineer: Joe Silovsky Crew: Sarou Armstrong, Daniel Zettner, David Rice, Kevin Scott
Seamstress: Keely Snook
Managing Producer: Jen Brogle
Videographer: Mariana Gongora
Performer Activators: Martita Abril, Peter Born, Jennifer Brogle, mayfield brooks, Leslie Cuyjet, André Daughtry, Eisa Davis, Brittany Engel-Adams, Lily Gold, Naja Gordon, Melanie Greene, Audrey Hailes, Remi Harris, Jasmine Hearn, Justin Hicks, Shayla-Vie Jenkins, Chaesong Kim, Tendayi Kuumba, Breyanna Maples, Priscilla Marrero, Anais Maviel, Okwui Okpokwasili, Maya Orchin, Kay Ottinger, jess pretty, Greg Purnell, Hans Rasch, Katrina Reid, Jean Carla Rodea, Lily Bo Shapiro, Samita Sinha, Eleanor Smith, Tatyana Tenenbaum, David Thomson, Pyeng Threadgill, Asiya Wadud, Charmaine Warren, AJ Wilmore, Anna Witenberg, and Nehemoyia Young.