Flowing Upstream by Martin Wöllenstein - Performances

Drawing on West African masquerade traditions, the work brings together discarded Ankos costumes, sound, moving image, light, and performance to examine the movement of materials and cultural practices between Africa and Europe. At its centre, 54 chalk circles map the countries of the African continent, incorporating reclaimed costumes into a monumental spatial composition. Set against Somerset House’s historic architecture, materials associated with collective celebration become a point of departure for reflecting on global textile waste and the unequal systems of production and exchange that shape its circulation. The title evokes a movement against these established flows, tracing their entanglement with colonial histories. Through ephemeral performative actions unfolding over the four days of the fair, the installation interrogates value, ownership, and exchange, while proposing alternative forms of circulation grounded in ecological regeneration and cultural reciprocity.