Ula Sickle
Looping the loop - Installation - 2009
presented as part of the exhibition Panorama 11
Installation
In Looping the Loop Dinozord, a young Hip Hop dancer from Kinshasa (DR Congo) traces the roots of this trans-historical and trans-national dance form, looking to traditional African dance as well as to forms of entertainment dance from Broadway and Hollywood to Mtv. Filmed against a blue key screen, the portrait is also an image of a contemporary Congo, coeval with developments in popular culture in the west and desirous to participate, even to dictate a movement that continues to transcend the borders of countries and continents. Presented as an installation, the life-size video projection is displayed next to a still image taken from a film by Congolese filmmaker Petna Katondolo, who's reportages on the influence of the US in the Congo for Metropolis tv (NL), are a source of inspiration for this project. the image and the ambient sound that accompany it, come from footage the filmmaker shot during a ten-day long film festival he organized in Goma (east DRC) in October 2008. Simultaneous with a regional conflict backed by international players over the area's natural resources, the festival culminated in a dance competition attended by thousands of local spectators as well as refugees displaced by the war.
