Conceptualized by Kim Ninkuru, These Are My Reparations is a sci-fi*, multi-media installation that directly addresses the way in which Black feminine people are taken, used and distorted for mass consumption. This work uses a hybrid of film, sculpture, sound, and online interactive media to tell the story of Honey, a Black woman, who is abducted by “The Company”, a corporate entity built to reproduce sound and visual content for the purposes of social control. Taking place in a future where live entertainment doesn’t exist, Honey is forced to sell her image and music to be used by an AI robot named RadioHead, which is accessed by the rich elite.

Visit online exhibition: www.thesearemyreparations.com

“episode 1: march 18th, 2465” is presented with Charles Street Video as a part of “These Are My Reparations”.

Artist bio:

Kim Ninkuru is a multimedia artist born in Bujumbura, Burundi. In Canada since 2009, she has been living and working in Montreal and Toronto.

Using video and sound performance, story-telling and installation work, she creates pieces that give her the chance to explore and express rage, love, desire, beauty, or pain in relation to her own body, mind and soul. Although her art is very personal, she is committed to speaking out about the liberation of black women and femmes everywhere.

Her work heavily questions our preconceived notions of gender, race, sexuality and class. It is grounded in the firm belief that blackness is past, present and future at any given moment.

Kim Ninkuru’s work has been shown in numerous galleries and exhibitions including the Museum Gardiner for Hashtag Solidarity, Trinity Square Video, Xpace Cultural Centre, Studio 303 amongst others. Her work appears in the anthology Other Places: Reflections on Media Arts in Canada by Deanna Bowen. In 2019, Ninkuru first showcased her piece “These Are My Reparations (Part II)” at SKETCH Working Arts as part of the first Toronto Biennial Art Festival.

Image ID:
Text reads “this is a story about a girl named Honey. These Are My Reparations”, along with artist credits and exhibition dates. The image shows a close up of Honey with light blue light across her eyes and nose.

Documentation by Polina Teif.