Alberta Whittle, ‘Lagareh - The Last Born’

LUX Scotland and Scotland+Venice are delighted to host a screening of ‘Lagareh - The Last Born’ at Ayr Town Hall, in partnership with South Ayrshire Council Galleries and Museums, as part of a screening tour that brings the work to six venues across Scotland between 20 September 2022 - 1 March 2023. This new work was commissioned by Scotland + Venice and Forma for the 59th International Art Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia.

‘Lagareh’ – which translates from the Mandinka language as ‘The Last Born’ – is a work anchored around theories of abolition, rebellion, ancestral knowledge and love. Shot in Scotland, England, Barbados, Sierra Leone and Italy, the film melds a collection of scenes that give focus to the strength of contemporary Black womxn, whose individual acts of resistance are bound together through the artist’s conceptual storytelling. The artist situates Black love in proximity with historical sites of trauma, re-inscribed with rage, hope and exhaustion. Gestures, rituals and moments of intimacy are poignantly underpinned by a deep reflection on grief, loss and mourning, a resolute reminder of the trauma inflicted upon the Black body and of white privilege and power.

The screening will be followed by a conversation between Chidera David Chukwujekwu and Raman Mundair. The concept of ‘resistance’ will provide an interpretive frame for this discussion, to weave connections between the artist’s practice, anti-racist and pro-black advocacy, and Scotland’s historic connections to the Transatlantic slave trade.