Oba Qween Baba King Baba
Ni’Ja Whitson’s Oba Qween Baba King Baba engages spiritual multiplicity and the role of Queerness in the Divine. The work’s title is based on the Yorùbá word “Oba,” which is a genderless term that has come to be known as a king.
This interdisciplinary work, performed by The NWA Project, is informed by personal narratives of queer and trans children of preachers and designed to be witnessed from above. Through movement, poetry, jazz, textile and video art, Oba Qween Baba King Baba uncovers architectures of the body, space, and sexuality to interrogate power and ways masculinity influences the perceived histories of religion.
An iteration of this work was presented during Dancing Platform Praying Grounds: Blackness, Churches, and Downtown Dance (Platform 2018) curated by Reggie Wilson.