Kibwe Tavares

The word robot originates from the Czech word “robota,” which can be translated as forced labour or slavery. The 3D animation by Kibwe Tavares combines the hard lot of robots in a retro-futuristic, alienated South London with memories of the 1981 street riots in the Afro-Caribbean immigrant district Brixton. Ghost Town was the name of a hit by the Specials at the time, portraying this very London. At the end of his short film, Tavares quotes Karl Marx: “History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce.”