‘Transgression…when land sinks or ocean basins fill with water causing sea levels to rise relative to land the shoreline moves towards higher land resulting in flooding. The opposite is regression – the sea level falls relative to the land and exposes former sea bottom’

Monroe and Reed – The Changing Earth: Exploring Geology and Evolution

The image of transgression as a process by which new territory emerges is one that I find to be interesting as a parallel to the socio-cultural phenomena of multiplicity and hybridization.

I’m interested in transgression more as social process and less in its reference to transgressive art or literary movements, or its moral or religious connotations. In the constant displacement & migration of ideas & bodies new differences, diversities and heterogeneities emerge.

Territorial boundaries which used to be considered prerequisite for any distinctive culture capable of establishing and reproducing coherent and saturated identities different from others have long been transgressed. The frameworks enabling us to make sense of ourselves, the world and our place in it, and which inform the process of identity building have shifted profoundly.

Recent years have witnessed the emergence of social and political instabilities in cities across Europe and the globe. Urban riots in France, protests in Haiti, unrest in Kenya, chaos in Somalia, radicalisations in the orient… Suppressed individuals and marginalised groups fight for fully accepted position within society by initiating strategies to make themselves visible. Protests, crises and acts of violence alongside less violent initiatives such as established signs and symbolisms are frequent instruments for claiming participation in social processes and cultural debates.

artistic direction opiyo okach

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