Negus explores the convergence of history, myth and magic through the complex and competing legacies of Ethiopia’s last emperor Haile Selassie I. In Italy during the fascist rule of Mussolini, Selassie was portrayed as a black devil, justifying Italy’s invasion of Ethiopia. During the same period the religion of Rastafarianism was emerging in Jamaica and claiming Selassie as their living God and the black Christ resurrected. Negus is powered from the void between these two irreconcilable realities.
Lee 'Scratch' Perry - godfather of dub music and an architect of the foundational sounds of reggae - takes on a double presence in the film: lurking as a spiritual ghost over the Black Ark, his former recording studio in Kingston, Jamaica, that he burned down in the 80s, and as master of a ritual fire ceremony performed in Italy to re-invoke the spirit of Ethiopia's last emperor.
The film follows a circular structure and its locations (Italy, Ethiopia and Jamaica) are constantly mixed. Its interwoven form insists that the trajectories of communities, ideologies and mythologies are never one-way vectors, but always exist in the complexity of infinite feedback and recourse.
Programme
Introduction by Simone Bertuzzi
Negus 2017, DCP, colour, sound, 70 min
Q&A
About Invernomuto
Simone Bertuzzi (b.1983, Italy) and Simone Trabucchi (b.1982, Italy) have been collaborating as Invernomuto since 2003. Their practice focuses primarily on moving image and sound, while often integrating sculpture, performance and publishing into their work. Recent solo shows include The MAC, Belfast (2017), Artspeak, Vancouver (2015), Triennale di Milano, Milan (2014) and Museion, Bozen (2014). In 2017 Invernomuto won the Museion Prize 1 and is currently a finalist for the MAXXI Bvlgari Prize. Bertuzzi and Trabucchi have developed individual lines of research into sound with their respective platforms Palm Wine and STILL.