Saidiya Hartman's 'Minor Music at the End of the World' Premieres in Amsterdam

In 2025, 'Minor Music at the End of the World,' a collaborative performance by Saidiya Hartman, will have its world premiere at Internationaal Theater Amsterdam. Directed by Sarah Benson and supported by Hartwig Art Foundation, the piece is inspired by W.E.B. Du Bois's 1920 science-fiction narrative 'The Comet.' It features three movements, integrating Hartman's essays 'The End of White Supremacy' (2020) and 'Litany for Grieving Sisters' (2022), along with a new section titled 'Dead River' and a remix of Arthur Jafa's film Aghdra (2021). Performers André Holland and Okwui Okpokwasili convey the themes of ecological collapse and authoritarianism through spoken word and movement. Hartman refers to the work as 'performed discourse,' highlighting its collaborative essence. The performance arises amidst what Hartman identifies as an authoritarian era in the U.S., where discussions on slavery and anti-Blackness are often suppressed. Her approach, termed 'critical fabulation,' merges archival research with narrative creativity, continuing her exploration of slavery's legacies seen in her previous works. An interview regarding this project will be featured in the November 2025 edition of ArtReview.