Last week was a turbulent one on the collective emotional exhaustion front but I’m so glad it ended on a hopeful note. The dawn of lockdown 2.0 in England means gallery visits are out, luckily, the cup of digital content overfloweth with an abundance of cultural journeys to explore from home.
READ
Well Read Black Girl is a book club centring Black female authors with a ‘goal to introduce a cohort of diverse writers to future generations including contemporary authors who are non-binary, queer, trans, and disabled.’ Their annual WRBG Festival launched last week in a digital capacity with 3 days of talks and interviews from some truly incredible poets, novelists, activists and journalists including a keynote from the epic Nikki Giovanni. This year’s theme Black Political Power: Past and Present, feels particularly relevant following a record number of women of colour being elected into Congress and the voter demographics trickling out in the aftermath of the US election (Stacey Abrams and team we salute you 🙏).
If you need recommendations for your reading list you can browse the 2020 book selection here: https://bookshop.org/lists/well-read-black-girl-virtual-festival-2020. Residents outside the US won’t be able to purchase directly from their online store but most titles should hopefully be available to order through your local independent book store. Recordings of the digital talks and events can be watched back via the button below.
DISCOVER
I’m pretty late to the Dustin Thierry party so forgive me if you’ve already had the pleasure of experiencing his work. Born in Curaçao and based in Holland his practice is focused on documenting Europe’s Afro-Caribbean queer community particularly within the context of the contemporary ballroom scene. If you’re local to Eindhoven his series Opulence is currently on display at Van Abbemuseum. Dedicated to Thierry’s late brother this evolving living archive is an intimate celebration of a community that continues to struggle for acceptance despite increasing visibility. The subjects are extravagant and theatrical whilst remaining unflinchingly defiant in the face of prejudice.
Thierry is one of 52 artists to contribute work to the freshly released New Queer Photography. This beautiful Kickstarter funded coffee table style volume is an intersectional survey of the queer experience through the lens of both emerging and established photographers many of whom have found their voice on social media. The book is widely available to purchase online and you can delve further into Thierry’s life and practice via this brilliant Nataal interview:
BOOK NOW
Zanele Muholi’s major new exhibition at the Tate Modern was only open for 1 day before having to close again due to lockdown, I’ve been looking forward to this one since it was announced last year and it did not disappoint.
If you’re unfamiliar with their work Muholi is a South African visual activist who has spent their career documenting the lives of SA’s LGBTQIA+ community through film and photography. You probably recognise works from their recent ongoing series Somnyama Ngonyama – translated as ‘Hail the Dark Lioness’ (pictured below) which have appeared in a plethora of exhibitions globally including the 2019 Venice Biennale, a solo show at Autograph in London a few years ago and most recently the Royal Academy Summer Show.
What I love about this mid-career retrospective is that brings together a number of expansive and thematically varied photographic series and contextualises them against the backdrop of queer liberation in post-apartheid South Africa. There are over 260 works on show and the content is dense so if you do make it down allow yourself at least 90 minutes to really savour and enjoy it.
IN OTHER NEWS
LISTEN
Stance is one of my favourite podcast series so I was really disappointed when I heard rumours last year that they might be no more, however, they returned in 2020 once again covering all things arts, culture and current affairs. The latest episode features a stellar line up that includes interviews with the father of Highlife and Ghanaian musical legend Ebo Taylor, founder of international contemporary African art fair 1:54 Touria El Glaoui and Morrocan-British photographer Hassan Hajjaj amongst others. Link to the series below.
WATCH
Remi Weekes directorial debut His House which scored a rare 100% on Rotten Tomatoes is an exceptional addition to the recent films and TV shows redefining the parameters of what a horror film should be. The story follows a young South Sudanese couple’s turbulent arrival in the UK and subsequent placement in an eerie and unsettling council house. The films greatest success, in my opinion, is its ability to capture the uniquely complex and layered migrant experience and go on to translate it into the universally accessible language of thrilling suspense and unease that underpins this genre. I don’t normally get scared but this had my heart racing throughout. His House is available on Netflix now.
LEARN
Before The Black Curriculum and Free Black University, there was Consented. These guys have been putting in the work for the longest time across all levels of education and though their focus is now primarily KS3 they still facilitate lectures for all so it’s worth giving them a follow.
Their latest satellite project Connected Sociologies is focused on ‘providing resources for schools, colleges and universities interested in challenging the curriculum and ‘rethinking sociological concepts, categories, and topics in order to enable us to make better sense of the worlds we inhabit.’
The website includes 3 modules with more on the horizon: Colonial Global Economy, British Citizenship, Race and Rights and The Making of the Modern World. Each contains several lectures all of which are free so get involved.
DISCOVER
Sunil Gupta’s retrospective From Here to Eternity, currently on show at the Photographer's Gallery, is probably one of my favourite exhibitions of the year. His often documentary-style practice focuses on issues such as race, identity, the politicised homosexual experience (he found himself in New York during the golden post-gay liberation and pre-Aids era) and sexuality.
His series Reflections on the Black Experience (1986), played a crucial role in the inception of Autograph ABP - a photography organisation founded in 1988 to fight discrimination within the industry hence his inclusion in this newsletter. If lockdown or geographic location renders you unable to visit the show this short film is a great overview that dips into key moments from his expansive 50-year career.
Magda xxx