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Aikido - The Mothership Connection by Zak Ove

Photo by: Duncan Rawlinson

Year: 2026

Image Caption: 

Aikido - The Mothership Connection by Zak Ove from London UK and Canary Islands Spain Mothership Connection reinterprets old-world artisan traditions, weaving Pacific Northwest totem craft with architectural references to sites built by enslaved and indentured labor, honoring their role in a shared, multi-racial history. The rocket-like form evokes an Afrofuturist vessel informed by Dogon cosmology. Its base recalls the Djenné mud mosque of Mali, rising into a shaft adorned with luminous masks and etched Veve symbols from the Haitian diaspora. Higher sections shift to Masonic columns and triangles, encircled by Cadillac lights referencing Western consumerism, then arches inspired by Washington's Capitol. The crown is a monumental illuminated Mende female mask, pulsing like a radiant beacon toward the future.

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