Dreamkeeper (1989)

Handling

A document of the artist's three-channel audio/video installation of the same title, Dreamkeeper is the second part of Jones' ongoing transcultural dialogue, a commentary on the emerging global African diaspora culture. Here he uses a drum to signify the link among diaspora peoples, stating, "The drum, the sound, is the translator of the unseen, to guide the seeker." Using footage and ambient sounds recorded in Angola and Burkina Faso, he explores what he terms a "narrative structure based on emotional progressions." Dreamkeeper continues Jones' search for images and sounds that speak to African diaspora cultures throughout the world. The drummers and music in the tape are indigenous to Bobo-Diolaso, Burkina Faso, West Africa.