Salacia
- Artist: Tourmaline
- Date: 2019
- Medium: Film, 16mm, shown as video, colour and sound
- Dimensions: duration: 6min, 4sec
- Museum: Tate Modern
- Collection record: Tate Modern website
Listen to the free audio guide
About this artwork
This is the “Salacia” by Tourmaline, a 16‑minute film shot on 16mm and then transferred to digital. It layers period drama, archival activist footage and scenes of contemporary New York, all split‑screened to create a collage that feels both historic and immediate. The story follows Mary Jones, born in 1803, a Black trans woman who lived in the free‑black community of Seneca Village in the 1830s. She was jailed after stealing a wallet, but her narrative is told through a folk‑tale lens that turns history into a fable about resistance.
For almost three minutes there’s no dialogue; the first words come from Virginia Hamilton’s book “The People Could Fly,” grounding the film in Black storytelling traditions. Tourmaline, an activist filmmaker, weaves these fragments into a non‑linear, a‑temporal montage that blurs past and present. The ending repeats, “we can be anything we want to be,” echoing the film’s message that identity is fluid and politics can be transformative.
See it in person
Salacia is in the collection of Tate Modern on Bankside, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
