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Gestures Towards Telling A New Narrative, 2024

Gestures Towards Telling A New Narrative, 2024

 

Durational Performance, with live drums by Irvin Pascal

24:00 minutes

Performed in the Atlantic Worlds gallery, National Maritime Museum, London

This intimate durational performance served as a symbolic farewell to the Atlantic Worlds gallery ahead of its temporary closure for a new phase of interpretation—one that seeks to resonate more meaningfully with the descendants of, and those impacted by, the transatlantic slave trade.

The performance unfolded through a combination of chanting and movement, guided by the beat of the drum, and continued until the moment of inviting the spiritual ancestors into the gallery felt present.

Commissioned by The Collective Makers for The National Maritime Museum


Credits:

With special thanks to Irvin Pascal, Lison Sabrina Musset and Joseph Ijoyemi from The Collective Makers, and Storm Thompson. Photographed by Big Skilly Media.

Elsa James © 2026. All Rights Reserved.

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