ABISSAL: Panamby

ABYSSAL emerged through the slow process of giving birth to, and living through, grief. During this time, washing became a ritual of care: baths in the sea, rivers, basins, gourds, buckets, rain, and herbs. The work unfolds as a song of deep waters reflecting the sky above, a celebration of souls and their journeys.

This sonic apparition establishes a dialogue with collective practices of care and mourning. From the Great Kalunga—the endless abyss of the ocean where countless Black bodies remained during the transatlantic trafficking of enslaved people, in flight and exile—to the abyss of the night sky, inhabited by bodies and movements that connect us to a diffuse ancestry, the work inhabits a space shaped by mystery and remembrance. It takes the form of liquid darkness, a blackout in which voices carve labyrinths through time, unsettle perception, and summon blurred ways of seeing, becoming a dense, generative space shared with impossible creatures.

ABYSSAL is an offering of twilight to the eyes and a sonic immersion into images revealed through the listening body. Water, breath, and a bioluminescent head. Bones, fossils, and ancestors buried beneath the ocean. Their voices continue to resonate, inviting us to hear their call and awaken alongside them.

Photography: Dinis Santos