In the Black Fantastic: Lina Iris Viktor x Salena Godden
Lina iris Viktor is one of 11 contemporary artists from the African diaspora whose work features in the Hayward Gallery exhibition, In the Black Fantastic.
Curated by Ekow Eshun, the exhibition brings together work from artists who draw on science fiction, myth and Afrofuturism to question our knowledge of the world. Inspired by this exhibition we’ve produced a four-part podcast series which draws on In the Black Fantastic’s themes to shape discussions between some of the artists and writers and musicians. And Viktor joined us for episode two.
In conversation with the artist is the poet, author, broadcaster and essayist Salena Godden, and the pair of them joined presenter Chrystal Genesis for a discussion that touched on the traditions of death, iconography of gold, referencing the self in their work, and a shared appreciation of The Oracle in The Matrix.
‘I think most writers write about themselves and then they just cover it with different colours. They’ll write ‘She lived in Paris, and she had straight blond hair,’ and they’re totally talking about themselves, they’ve just given themselves a blond wig and put themselves in Paris instead of Croydon’
Born in 1986, Viktor is a British-Liberian visual artist based in New York. Working in paint, sculpture, performance, installation and photography, she draws on artistic traditions and visual influences from African symbolism and cosmology spanning from the present-day to ancient Egypt, to classical mythology and astronomy, and European portraiture.
As well as works from her 2018 series ’A Haven. A Hell. A Dream Deferred’, which draws on ties between the Southern US city of New Orleans and the resettlement of freed slaves in West Africa, particularly within Liberia, In the Black Fantastic also features two of Viktor’s totemic sculptural creations, each of them made from Volcanic rock.
Salena Godden is an award-winning author, memoirist, essayist, poet and broadcaster of Jamaican heritage based in London. Godden has published five books of poetry and four studio albums to date, with her poems having been widely anthologised. In July this year Godden’s fiction book Mrs Death Misses Death won the 2022 Indie Book Awards Fiction award, whilst Southbank Centre regulars may also recognise her from her appearance this year at Out-Spoken.
Listen to more podcasts in this series
This podcast series is hosted and executive produced by Chrystal Genesis, produced by Jaja Muhammad, researched by Zara Martin, mixed by Carmela DiClemente, and was conceived by Glen Wilson.
The exhibition of 11 contemporary artists of the African diaspora, from which this conversation drew inspiration, was at Hayward Gallery 29 June–18 September, 2022.