Em’kal Eyongakpa: sǒ bàtú reflections (bath for the ears)
CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts
September 1 – October 15, 2022
2022 Production | Exhibition Grant
ǒ bàtú reflections (bath for the ears) is an immersive, site-specific installation by Em’kal Eyongakpa that investigates real events, folklore, and clock/time signatures recurrent in southern Cameroon, weaving and amplifying stories of self-preservation within the other-worldly setting of an underground forest refuge. Eyongakpa collaborates with the live noises of kinetic and organic elements in his cave-like installation with a multi-channel presentation of field recordings and sounds from repurposed instruments, vents, and pipes. Derived from Cameroonian folk tales and rumor, Eyongakpa’s project reflects on the vulnerable, displaced communities that seek refuge in caves so deep, dark, and resoundingly percussive that they demand a new balance with the natural world. sǒ bàtú reflections (bath for the ears) aims to explore these forms of percussion as non-invasive tools for healing.
CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts is a nonprofit art space dedicated to artist-centered questioning through temporary exhibitions, public events, and in-depth research. The Wattis is a laboratory for testing the future of contemporary art by supporting established, emerging, and under-recognized artists who take risks and experiment with new ideas, challenging our understanding of the art of our time.. The Wattis’ exhibition program supports international, national, and local artists by presenting solo exhibitions of newly commissioned work, often co-produced with and traveling to prominent institutions in the United States and around the world. Eyongakpa’s project forms a central element of Drum Listens to Heart, an exhibition exploring various forms of percussion and their applications including healing, liberation, ritual, war, protest, and politics.
babhi-bɛrat XXI-r [babhi-manyɛp/ babhi-bawɛt, (mbaŋ), installation view, Oudekerk Museum, Amsterdam, courtesy the artist, Bɔɔ Bɛtɔk, 2021, Photos, video stills: ˝ Eyongakpa
