Click above to play me deya trailer.
It is made up entirely of clips from work in the me deya collection.
" me deya...
"
... is
Jamaican or Trinidadian patois (or patwa). It would be said in response
to a greeting and means simply 'me there' meaning 'I am here'. In West
Africa a Wolof speaker might say Mangifee, which translates to 'I am here'.
In Dominica or St Lucia where French patois or Creole is spoken they say
'moi la'. This translates literally into French with the same syntax as
the Jamaican / English as 'me there' or 'I am here'. So across the African
Diaspora the call 'How are You?' is often responded to
with 'I am here.'
All these are
places where Africans were taken to make 'The New World'. This lingusitic
connection is one tiny piece of evidence about the living link between
Africa and its diaspora.
That idea inspired
this project which was commissioned by the British Empire & Commonwealth
Musuem as part of its Breaking The Chains exhibition. That exhibition
attracted over 60,000 visitors since 2007 including over 15,000 from schools
and education.
The exhibition
was shortlisted for the Art Fund Prize in 2008
"
I am here..." Philosophically, 'I am here' can mean so much. In fact it can
mean everything. This existential response to an everyday greeting may
reflect the sense of victory over the work of everyday living, where one's
very presence is enough of an answer.
"I
am still here..."
Historically, the presence of African-Caribbeans at all is evidence
of the legacy of transatlantic slavery. For those who claim or believe
that 'the slave trade has nothing to do with today', this is
a crucial fact. Through kidnap, the middle passage, plantation life, colonialism
and further migration, the descendents of those with the strength to survive
are still here. Their identities in part constructed by this historical
era.
