R.I.P. Germain

Siddique (2021)

19/05/2021

A visual essay commissioned by Ruth Beale for her On Grief, Loss & Ritual zine. On Grief, Loss & Ritual acts as a supplement to the artists Brent Biennial 2020 project Library As Memorial

This is a zine about grief, loss and the rituals around death, and how they are approached from different personal, religious and cultural perspectives, with contributions from artists, poets, and people local to Brent, London. It grew out of Library As Memorial, a collection of 491 library books with bookplates dedicated to people in Brent who died in the first wave of COVID-19. The books, each individually a site of remembrance, were installed in Kilburn Library before being distributed across the borough. Library as Memorial is a project by Ruth Beale for Brent Biennial 2020.

Siddique (Pages II & III), 2021, visual essay

Citation List

URL links are attached to the text that’s underlined, and the text that’s italicised is added context being provided.

Page I

I. 2Pac, I Ain’t Mad At Cha (Music Video Version), 1996, 4:54

II. Unknown, TB To GBs Mum Blaming Snoop For 💥🤕 In Comments, 2019

A screenshot of Rhyheim Barton (GB)’s mothers post on a deleted Youtube video discussing her sons murder.

III. Hannah Black, Bastille, 2020

IV. Sable Elyse Smith, Weight, 2019

V. Mike Kelley, Arena #7 (Bears), 1990

VI. Real Madrid, Campfire, 2016

VII. Roman Ondak, Only Good News, 1999

VIII. A False Front, Found Image, Unknown

IX. A$AP Mob, Yams Day 2021, 2021, 53:57

Page II

I. MizOrMac, Return Of The Mac, 2020, 1:00

II. B+, Unknown, Unknown

III. Kayode Ojo, An Entanglement, 2020

IV. Sondra Perry, Flesh Wall, 2021

V. A Californian Wildfire Fire Tornado, Found Image, 2018

VI. Kendrick Lamar, Dead Homies, 2015, 1:54-2:37

VII. 2Pac, I Ain’t Mad At Cha Video Shoot, Found Image, 1996

VIII. Carolyn Lazard, PAIN SCALE, 2019

IX. Michael Asher, Untitled (Santa Monica Museum Of Art, California), 2008

X. Stanley “Tookie” Williams III, Found Image, Unknown

XI. Dave, Purple Heart, 2019, 0:27

Page III

I. Fredo, What Can I Say, 2020, 2:07

II. Galatasaray Spor Kulübü’s Ultraslan, Found Image, Unknown

III. Jeff Wall, The Flooded Grave, 1998-2000

IV. Sable Elyse Smith, 8422 Nights (Detail), 2020

V. King Krule, Neptune Estate (Remix) Single Cover, 2014

VI. Ed Fornieles, Unknown, Unknown

VII. R.B. Kitaj, The Bells Of Hell, 1961

VIII. Sun Yuan & Peng Yu, Can’t Help Myself, 2016

IX. Christopher Anderson, Baptizing Soldiers In The Kuwaiti Desert, 2003

X. Kendrick Lamar, PRIDE., 2017, 0:08

Page IV

I. Issy Wood, IRON/BREW, 2020

II. Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Mr. Ouija 2, 1995

III. Kahlil Joseph, m.A.A.d, 2014, 1:01

IV. Fredo, What Can I Say, 2020, 1:14

V. Jérôme Sessini, East Baltimore, 2019

VI. Kelly Akashi, Tall Weed, 2016

VII. Crosslom Davis (Bis), “You Come From A Good Place! Wer I Come From It’s Ugly”, 2018

A selfie Crosslom Davis (Bis) posted onto his instagram account of him visiting his close friend Latwaan Griffith (S.A/Latz)’s grave for the first time after being released from prison. The title of the photo comes the caption he wrote for the post.

VIII. Kendrick Lamar, Sing About Me, I’m Dying Of Thirst, 2012, 5:40

IX. Marc Chagall, The Lovers, 1913-14

Misc.

I. Incognito, Blessed, 2018

Blessed is the last music video Siddique Kamara (Incognito) released before his untimely death. It is a tribute to his close friend Rhyheim Barton (GB).

II. This essay is dedicated to the memory of Siddique and all of the young people losing their lives prematurely in senseless ways. This essay can also be read as a fuck you to the lazy journalists in the UK robbing these young people of their dignities with reckless, reductive, ill-informed and in most cases, racist agenda driven reporting, in the name of clicks and views at the expense of the grieving families right to mourn their loved one(s) in a dignified manner.