Welcome back! I’ve come across so many things I love in the last two weeks that having to narrow it down to just 3 recommendations proved too difficult. Rather than editing too many things out completely I’ve switched it up a little and added a quick fire round of additional suggestions at the end. Enjoy it while it lasts, the Spirit may not take me on this journey next time around.
WATCH
Allumuah is a stunning short film by emerging filmmaker Curtis Essel commissioned by NOWNESS in partnership with the British Council and the BFI. Inspired by Essel’s grandmother it celebrates the evolution of the African diaspora’s rich oral tradition and examines how it continues to bind people together in an increasingly digital age.
The film intends to challenge Africans across the world to reflect on their own lives and revise what they think they know about their heritage, and subsequently about their ‘true self’ and ‘identity.’ Proverbs from multiple African languages, including cultural references, are incorporated in the film to expound on the significance of our commonalities. - Curtis Essel
Visually Allumuah is a total joy - every single frame feels like it’s been treated with the same care, consideration and time you might devote to a standalone photoshoot. It’s already won the Vimeo Staff Pick Award at Philadelphia’s BlackStar Film Festival as well as being selected for the 2020 TriBeCa Film Festival leaving me impatiently anticipating more great work from Essel.
READ
One of the most significant initiatives to receive crowdfunding support following the recent wave of BLM protests (in my opinion) is the Free Black University. My parents were intensely steadfast in their belief that education equals salvation and though I mostly put it down to the cliche of a strict immigrant household I think in a lot of ways they were absolutely right.
Touted as “the UK’s answer to HBCU’s” the Free Black University was founded by Cambridge PhD student Melz Owusu who describes it as a hub for “radical and transformative knowledge production”. She’s managed to completely sidestep the often frustratingly long, drawn-out and fruitless battle for institutional change to create a solution that’s both revisionist and accessible.
An exciting new development from the FBU is the launch of their e-library of digital books. It includes all the heavy hitters - Angela Davis, James Baldwin, bell hooks, Toni Morrison, Audre Lorde - the list goes on and they are all completely free and categorised with handy tags to help you browse. If you do find yourself making use of it and have the means please make a donation to their Go Fund Me which is still about £135k shy of their target. If this is just the beginning imagine how much more they have left to achieve.
VISIT
Running from 16th September - 31st October Jesture is Jade Fadojutimi’s second solo show at London’s Pippy Houldsworth Gallery. At 27 she is the youngest person to have work held in the Tate’s collection and Jesture precedes solo shows at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Miami and the Liverpool Biennial in 2021 - safe to say that some pretty epic times lie ahead.
This body of work is a direct response to the ‘absurd’ turmoil of the last few months. Unable to visit her studio during lockdown Fadojutimi was forced to reframe her working parameters turning to oil pastels in the absence of 6ft canvasses. She’s always described her paintings as a diary - an expressive and energetic manifestation of her most immediate thoughts. Recent months, however, have seen these personal painterly musings often exploring fleeting notions of identity become inextricably tangled with a narrative responding to the current wave of social and political upheaval. Pictures really don’t do her work justice so I hope you get to see it in the flesh, more details about the show can be found via the button below.
IN OTHER NEWS…
DISCOVER
The work of emerging artist Kemi Onabule who has just completed a week long residency at Lewisham Art House. Select drawings are available to buy via Blue Shop Cottage and she’ll be exhibiting in group shows in London come October - I’ll keep you posted :)
WATCH
This excerpt from r-Evolution, Dream choreographed by Hope Boykin, performed by Vernard J. Gilmore (Alvin Ailey) and narrated by Leslie Odom Jr (Hamilton). Granted the piece is a few years old so not necessarily new but it was performed last week as part of the 2020 Virtual March on Washington commemorating 57th anniversary of the historic March on Washington where Martin Luther King delivered his I Have A Dream speech.
ADMIRE
This stunning photoshoot by the incredible Campbell Addy for Harper’s Bazaar which includes and inspirational cast of creatives and activists. If you don’t know who the sitters are this is a great opportunity to go down the rabbit hole to find out about their work. Read the full article here.
LEARN
About the current renaissance of Black cinema and the courage and determination it took to arrive at this moment in They’ve Gotta Have Us. Charting the careers of trailblazing actors and directors from the US and UK this 3 part docu series examines the acute barriers faced by each generation. Originally released in 2018 it has just been added to Netflix so if you’v got an account you know what to do.
Magda xxx