South African poet and playwright Koleka’s rousing poem, “Water,” tackles issues of race and religion with a certain grace and vivid honesty. Putuma has now teamed up with Ecuadorian filmmaker Josè Cardoso to set the poem to visuals.
The video is a project of The InZync Poetry Sessions, a Cape Town-based collective that hopes to explore African poetry through multi-lingual and multi- genre performances. The visuals open with Putuma, sitting on a rock by the sea, with the sound of seagulls flying overhead and blue waves crashing against gray stone before she utters the words: “The memory of going to the beach every New Year’s eve/ Is one I share with cousins/and most people raised black”.
The video is the first release off InZync Poetry’s forthcoming InterVerse. The 8- track EP is due out 4 July and features selections from the UK grime poet Debris Stevenson, Namibian duo Wakambi and South African poets Pieter Odendaal, Koleka Putuma and Toni Stuart.
Check out the video below
