Percy Nii Nortey: Break from Reality
In the course of the Dekoloniale Artist Residency 2024 “Colonial Ghosts – Resistant Spirits: Church, Colonialism and beyond” at the exhibition Dekoloniale – what remains?!, five selected guest artists present their works at the Museum Nikolakirche and also work with and in the public space of Berlin.
Percy Nii Nortey: Break from Reality
The foundation of Nortey’s art practice is the collaboration with various proletariat community members in Ghana, including car mechanics, charcoal sellers, and market women. He uses fabric stained from their daily work to reflect their labor and how essential it is for society as a whole.
By distributing fabric to workers and later collecting it stained with oil, fuel, and dirt, he transforms these materials, charged with personal histories, into proxies for collective memory. His approach actively engages the local community, fostering connections, and reshaping perceptions to highlight the importance of their labor in society, thus contributing to the decolonization of minds.
The art work
Break from Reality aims to dismantle colonial ideologies of white supremacy spread by European missionaries in 19th-century Ghana. The project empowers Black communities by portraying the Black proletariat as equals to the white man.
Using fabrics collected from local proletarians in Ghana, symbolizing their daily lives and struggles, these textiles reinterpret stained glass windows by depicting the Black proletariat in place of colonial iconographies found within Ghanaian churches.
This transforms the Nikolaikirche, historically linked to colonialism, into an inclusive space celebrating Black resilience. The project challenges the erasure of Black narratives, asserting their rightful place in public discourse and reclaims agency over their identities.
Sound installations
The visual transformations are accompanied by sound installations that deepen the immersive experience of Nikolaikirche.
The soundscape, crafted using field recordings from local Ghanaian communities, captures the everyday rhythms, voices, and expressions of the proletariat.
The soundscape also draws on two powerful sources:
- Fake Jesus by Prophet Seer1 CFM, sourced from YouTube and
- Lumumba Explain, Episode 9: Religion von Thee Alfa House featuring Plo Lumumba, also sourced from YouTube.
These sound clips fused together provide a critical narrative on the role of religion and colonialism, challenging imposed ideologies and reinforcing the liberation of Black and African minds.
Percy Nii Nortey
Percy Nii Nortey is a multidisciplinary artist born and working in Kumasi, Ghana. His practice explores materiality, identity, labor, and memory, blurring the boundaries between performative objects, painting, sound installation, moving sculptures, and video installation. His practice is deeply rooted in his personal as well as environmental and economic conditions of Ghana and aims to decolonize minds and empower black communities to reclaim agency over their narratives and identities.
Info & Service
Opening Hours
daily | 10 am – 6 pm (also on public holidays)
Differing opening hours:
Tue – Fri | 10. – 13.06. | closed (change of exhibition)
Sat | 21.06. (Museum Festival / Fête de la Musique) | 10 am – 10 pm | free admission
Sat | 30.08. (Long Night of the Museums) | 10 am – 2 am
daily | 15.09. – 02.10. | closed (change of exhibition) 10. | closed (exhibition set-up)
Sat + Sun | 10.10. + 11.10. + 17.10 + 18.10. (Festival of Lights) | 10 am – 9 pm
Wed | 24.12. (Christmas Eve) | closed
Thu | 25.12. (Christmas Day) | 12 – 6 pm
Fri | 26.12. (Boxing Day) | 12 – 6 pm
Wed | 31.12. (New Year’s Eve) | closed
Thu | 01.01. (New Year’s Day) | 12 – 6 pm
The visitor rules of the Stiftung Stadtmuseum Berlin apply.
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Nikolaikirchplatz
10178 Berlin
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+49 30 24 002-162
Mo – Fri | 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
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Tickets
Admission
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15 euros
Valid for our three museums in the Nikolaiviertel (Museum Nikolaikirche, Museum Ephraim-Palais, Museum Knoblauchhaus) on two consecutive days (please note opening hours)
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Free admission
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