Black Like Him

Black like Him
54′ loop
2 channel HD-video
5.1 surround sound
2007

“He made me in His image, He made me Black like Him.”

Black Like Him is the final part of the Black Madonna Series and centers around a mass in a Black church downtown Detroit. It is a large, two-channel video installation that brings together all the aspects of the Church, the music and the life of the people in the Black Nation.

It is a journey through a contemporary discussion on race, politics and religion. When Bishop Kimathi draws a picture of how life unfolds for young Black people, everything from the collapse of the Soviet Union to the Israelite flight from Egypt is there. We are travelling through history in the streets of Detroit to the music from a real Motown choir.

Black like Him was first shown at Brändström & Stene Gallery in Stockholm 2007, as part of the exhibition “History Does Not Matter.”

HD footage: Mats Hjelm & Annika Busch

Editing & production: Mats Hjelm

Sound: Claes Herrlander & Jesper Johansson

Assistant editor: Annika Busch

Participant: Jaramogi Melenik Kimathi, Holy Patriarch of the Pan African Orthodox Christian Church.

®2021 Mats Hjelm Studio