We Tell Each Other’s Stories in Order to Live - Films from pIAR
21 FEBRUARY – 2 MARCH 2025
Opening event & screening on Thursday 20.2. 18:30: “Va-Bene Fiatsi: Performance as Life” (Giulia Casalini, Niya B, and Va-Bene Elikem Fiatsi, 2024, Ghana, 45 min)
Sharing stories is sharing and enabling life. It’s the fuel of our communities, an act of resistance, solidarity, the ongoingness of trans and queer lives. In times when trans and queer rights—and lives—are under constant threat, and black trans lives remain among the most vulnerable, we need each other more than ever.
We tell each other(’s) stories in order to live.
Lou presents a screening of four films by Ghanaian artists, on view 21.2.-2.3. during gallery opening hours. Through performance, the films explore themes of identity, resilience, and transformation.
The screening is a collaboration between Lou and pIAR – perfocraZe International Artist Residency in Kumasi, Ghana. As part of the exchange, a selection of films by Finland-based artists will be shown at pIAR’s open studios on Friday, February 28.
Screening 20.2. 18.30
Va-Bene Fiatsi: Performance as Life
Giulia Casalini, Niya B, and Va-Bene Elikem Fiatsi, 2024, Ghana, 45 min
Va-Bene Elikem Fiatsi is a trans activist and performance artist based in Ghana who identifies as a ‘transvatar’—a reflection of the many identities she embodies. The documentary intimately follows her journey as she navigates daily life, artmaking, and her political struggles as a Black African LGBTQI+ activist. Filmed at perfocraZe International Artist Residency (pIAR), a space founded and run by Va-Bene in Kumasi, the documentary features interviews with her and members of the pIAR art family, along with archival performance footage. As Va-Bene shares her story, the film travels with her to the north of Ghana in Tamale, and to the southern coast, where remnants of one of her performances linger in the dungeons where enslaved women were held within Elmina Castle.
Films on view at Lou until 2.3.
Va-Bene Elikem Fiatsi: Performance as Life, Giulia Casalini, Niya B and Va-Bene Elikem Fiatsi, 2024
KPOJIEMO [OUT-DOOR-ing], Marcella Nuerkie Akuetteh, 2024
Sacred wounds, Va-Bene Elikem Fiatsi, 2024
Beauty of Decompose, Austin Nortey, 2024