Vital Matters artwork: Patrisse Cullors "They Are With Us"
They Are With Us
DESCRIPTION
A silent video unfolds through rhythmic cuts between expansive landscape vistas and intimate close-ups of the artist. Cullors appears draped in layered, flowing textiles of her own design, adorned with sculptural crowns by KUTULA, embellished with cowrie shells. Through these embodied gestures, she channels the presence and force of the òrìṣà—divine entities within the Ifá spiritual tradition, including Yemaya, Obatala, Osun, and Oya.
They Are With Us was part of Free Us, a broader body of work featured in The House Was Too Small: Yoruba Sacred Arts from Africa and Beyond (October 29, 2023–February 7, 2024). The project brought together moving image, sound, and historical objects on altars to honor òrìṣà practitioners and the continuity of their spiritual lineages. Through visual and sonic storytelling, Cullors foregrounds the resilience of these traditions while confronting the enduring effects of Christian hegemony and anti-African bias.
By positioning each òrìṣà as both witness and reflection across They Are With Us and the installation Free Us, the work invites viewers to examine their own relationships to belief, erasure, and power—and to consider what it means to reclaim space for spiritual and cultural self-determination.
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