‘For the colonialists all means are good if they help them to possess these riches.’
— Patrice Lumumba
Then, our eldest cousin counseled us;
the small children —The dried apricots,
aren’t apricots at all,
they are the ears of orphans,
See here —proof, his henna-stained fingers traced
the helix’s half-fold— they sell their ears
our protests
we don’t want to eat
the ears of childrenmuted
our eldest cousin warned
you must,
otherwise they bled for nothing
and the demand for apricots
will dry up
then what will they sell?pushing apricots our Eucharist,
into holy cherub mouths saving us lowly third sphere angelstongues dancing over downy hairs,
chewing over sweet-sour rubber lambs blood.Now, I cut apricot halves
forming sunrise mandalas on parchment,pressing my fingerprints into their candied skin,
playing knuckles with their stones,they’re browning in my kiln
and I’m telling my own children —these are not apricots at all
they are the ears of small childrenand when they cry
they don’t want to eat the sweetmeatsI say
You must
otherwise, what will they sell?
During Belgian’s colonial rule of the ‘Congo Free State’ the Force Publique military were responsible for enforcing rubber quotas.
Severed hands became a currency for shortfalls in rubber. It’s been estimated that 10 million people died during this forgotten Holocaust.The Democratic Republic of the Congo has the world’s largest reserves of cobalt—an essential ingredient in Lithium-ion rechargeable
batteries, such as the ones used in our smartphones, laptops and electric cars. The DRC cobalt mines have been rife with human rights
abuses, including child labour, as detailed in The Washington Post article The Cobalt Pipeline by Todd C. Frankel.
- 115: SPACE
with A Sometimes
114: NO THEME 13
with J Toledo & C Tse
113: INVISIBLE WALLS
with A Walker & D Disney
112: TREAT
with T Dearborn
111: BABY
with S Deo & L Ferney
110: POP!
with Z Frost & B Jessen
109: NO THEME 12
with C Maling & N Rhook
108: DEDICATION
with L Patterson & L Garcia-Dolnik
107: LIMINAL
with B Li
106: OPEN
with C Lowe & J Langdon
105: NO THEME 11
with E Grills & E Stewart
104: KIN
with E Shiosaki
103: AMBLE
with E Gomez and S Gory
102: GAME
with R Green and J Maxwell
101: NO THEME 10
with J Kinsella and J Leanne
100: BROWNFACE
with W S Dunn
99: SINGAPORE
with J Ip and A Pang
97 & 98: PROPAGANDA
with M Breeze and S Groth
96: NO THEME IX
with M Gill and J Thayil
95: EARTH
with M Takolander
94: BAYT
with Z Hashem Beck
93: PEACH
with L Van, G Mouratidis, L Toong
92: NO THEME VIII
with C Gaskin
91: MONSTER
with N Curnow
90: AFRICAN DIASPORA
with S Umar
89: DOMESTIC
with N Harkin
88: TRANSQUEER
with S Barnes and Q Eades
87: DIFFICULT
with O Schwartz & H Isemonger
86: NO THEME VII
with L Gorton
85: PHILIPPINES
with Mookie L and S Lua
84: SUBURBIA
with L Brown and N O'Reilly
83: MATHEMATICS
with F Hile
82: LAND
with J Stuart and J Gibian
81: NEW CARIBBEAN
with V Lucien
80: NO THEME VI
with J Beveridge
57.1: EKPHRASTIC
with C Atherton and P Hetherington
57: CONFESSION
with K Glastonbury
56: EXPLODE
with D Disney
55.1: DALIT / INDIGENOUS
with M Chakraborty and K MacCarter
55: FUTURE MACHINES
with Bella Li
54: NO THEME V
with F Wright and O Sakr
53.0: THE END
with P Brown
52.0: TOIL
with C Jenkins
51.1: UMAMI
with L Davies and Lifted Brow
51.0: TRANSTASMAN
with B Cassidy
50.0: NO THEME IV
with J Tranter
49.1: A BRITISH / IRISH
with M Hall and S Seita
49.0: OBSOLETE
with T Ryan
48.1: CANADA
with K MacCarter and S Rhodes
48.0: CONSTRAINT
with C Wakeling
47.0: COLLABORATION
with L Armand and H Lambert
46.1: MELBOURNE
with M Farrell
46.0: NO THEME III
with F Plunkett
45.0: SILENCE
with J Owen
44.0: GONDWANALAND
with D Motion
43.1: PUMPKIN
with K MacCarter
43.0: MASQUE
with A Vickery
42.0: NO THEME II
with G Ryan
41.1: RATBAGGERY
with D Hose
41.0: TRANSPACIFIC
with J Rowe and M Nardone
40.1: INDONESIA
with K MacCarter
40.0: INTERLOCUTOR
with L Hart
39.1: GIBBERBIRD
with S Gory
39.0: JACKPOT!
with S Wagan Watson
38.0: SYDNEY
with A Lorange
37.1: NEBRASKA
with S Whalen
37.0: NO THEME!
with A Wearne
36.0: ELECTRONICA
with J Jones