Reconnec
Chisenhale Studios
October 2022
Curator

Video insallation by Juliette Gampert
Dance workshop by Miss Rose UK
Supported by Chisenhale Studios and Goldsmiths Exhibitions Hub

Reconnec presents a video installation by Juliette Gampert exploring dancehall culture (born from Jamaican sound system parties of the late 70s) and the spaces it creates for commoning and self-connection. Three life-size screens immerse visitors in the rituals and temporality of Kingston’s Dancehall street parties. Through interviews with important figures within the community, such as Orville Xpressionz, Kimiko Versatile, and DHQ Danger, Gampert contextualises Dancehall as an emancipatory and decolonial movement, showing how bodies can carry and share cultural knowledge passed down through generations. Through her practice of Dancehall, Juliette Gampert undertakes a double quest of identity: as a woman seeking empowerment and as a third-generation Jamaican in search of bonding with part of her origins.

A dance workshop is also led by special guest Miss Rose, exploring how we can move together and form connections with each other through dance. The workshop focuses on “social dances” – moves which are named in specific songs, becoming familiar and gathering everyone to dance them together at parties when the song is played. It creates a moment for us to experiment with our bodies and share in a sense of collectivity through the rituals of moving together.


Image Credits:
1. Still from Reconnec video installation by Juliette Gampert
2. Promotional material from Reconnec, created by Ankita Mukherji and Juliette Gampert
3. Still from Reconnec video installation by Juliette Gampert