bun babylon (part 1) black british men are diabolical except anthony joshua and yung filly.jpg, (2025), single channel, digital, 46.58 mins

'bun babylon (part 1): black british men are diabolical except anthony joshua and yung filly.jpg' (2025) is a continuation of emeke’s film collage practice, composed of found and private archival footage that stages a meditation on desire and repression, jealousy and power, possession and class, dreams and reality, marriage and fidelity, mortality and danger, and the masks we wear.

the work continues emeke’s ongoing exploration of black british archetypes. anthony joshua who has emerged pivotal within in not only the black british archetypal cosmos, but the greater diaspora and global stage at large too, this time is revealed as a messianic figure that had always been in plain sight, his true nature, purpose and presence eclipsed by the long-running propaganda campaign levied at him by both the uk/foreign press and boxing conglomerate, disguising his true essence since 2012. here we see this motif extend to british-colombian youtuber and cultural worker yung filly, currently in australia under allegations of rape, who stands in uneasy counterpoint to the black british male podcast, creative and influencer community, who often symbolically are positioned to represent a judas-like role where betrayal, deceit, and the abdication of care are repeatedly leveraged for money, greed and self-preservation.

self-referential, the piece closes with emeke’s first act, 'wilton', titled after her maternal grandfather of jamaican maroon heritage, placed in supposed stark juxtaposition with queen elizabeth and prince harry, the “spare.” the work leaves open the question: the garden city is ready and available to all, right now and all it takes is acceptance. no works or effort. just acceptance. what will we choose?

"so god said to him, “bring me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” so abram brought all these to him and cut them down the middle, and laid each half opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds. so god said to him, “bring me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” so abram brought all these to him and cut them down the middle, and laid each half opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds." genesis 15:9-10, 17-18