Obi Mbu (The Primordial House) (2021)

Official Trailer

Summary

Obi Mbu (The Primordial House) (2021) is a 30 minute experimental dance film that is centered in the Primordial House, located in the Sirius star system, from which creation emerges. Eke-Nnechukwu, the Igbo high god, and Chukwu, Her masculine counterpart, exist in perfect unity in and as the Blackness of space. Although They are dual aspects of the Primordial Androgynous deity, Chukwu sections off a part of space exclusively for Himself in the form of a sacred pillared chamber in the heart of the Primordial House. He engages in a secret work by dancing in and out of this chamber, which sets off a chain of irrevocable circumstances that lead to our current world and condition. 


Directors: Mikael Owunna & Marques Redd 

Movement Director: Ursula Payne 

Chukwu: Corey Bourbonniere 

Eke-Nnechukwu: Victoria Watford 

Sound Design: Herman Pearl / soy s0s 

Producer: Marquita Sams

Production Assistant: Isabelle Analo

Movement Consultant: Marquita Sams


Purchase Film Box Set, Prints & Merchandise

Promotional Images

Screenings

2021

New York CityClampArt Gallery, September 17 - October 30, 2021

Opening Reception: Friday, September 17, 2021, 6-8pm


Los AngelesIris Project Gallery, November 6 - December 19, 2021

Screenings with Artist Talks:

Saturday, November 6, 2021: 3PM

Saturday, November 20, 2021: 3PM

Saturday, December 18, 2021: 2PM


Raleigh, NCContemporary Art Museum Raleigh, November 14 & 18, 2021

Sunday, November 14, 2021: 5-8pm

Thursday, November 18, 2021: 7-9pm


Big Sur, CA: The Esalen Institute, December 8, 2021, 7pm


2022

Pittsburgh, PA: Kelly Strayhorn Theater, February 25, 2022, 7pm


Chautauqua, NY: Chautauqua Institution, June 26 - August 7, 2022

Opening Reception: Sunday, June 26, 2022, 6-8pm 


Martha's Vineyard, MA: Mariposa Museum & World Cultural Center, July 5 & 8, 2022

Tuesday, July 5, 2022: 4PM

Friday, July 8, 2022: 4PM


Pittsburgh, PA: AlphaLab, August 9, 2022


Raleigh, NC: North Carolina Museum of Art, October 7, 2022-December 31, 2024

Friday, October 7, 2022, 6-10pm


Big Sur, CA: The Esalen Institute, October 21, 2022


Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Silicon Valley Archives, October 26, 2022, 6pm


Pittsburgh, PA: Carnegie Mellon University, November 8 & 16, 2022


2023

Rancho Cucamonga, CAChaffey College, February 8, 2023, 12:30pm


Washington, DC: National Museum of African American History and Culture, March 13, 2023 - March 13, 2024


Cambridge, MA: MIT Media Lab, March 15, 2023


Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Frick Fine Arts Building, March 16, 2023, 7:30pm


Big Sur, CA: The Esalen Institute, May 20, 2023


Pittsburgh, PA: Miller Institute for Contemporary Art - Carnegie Mellon University, July 29 - September 3, 2023

Opening Reception: July 28, 2023


Middlebury, VT: Middlebury College School of French, August 10, 2023

Artist Talk (French)


Columbus, GA: Columbus State University Illges Gallery, Southeast Chapter of the Society for Photographic Education, Imagining New Futures,
October 13 - November 11, 2023


2024

Raleigh, NC: North Carolina State University, February 7, 2023


Portland, OR: Blue Sky, Oregon Center for the Photographic Arts, June 6 - 29, 2024

The filming of "Obi Mbu (The Primordial House)" was made possible with the support of the Advancing Black Arts in Pittsburgh Grants Program, a partnership of The Pittsburgh Foundation and The Heinz Endowments.


Copyright 2021 Mikael Owunna Studios, LLC. All rights reserved.