Welcome to day 17 of 2021, it’s off to a challenging start for many of us but I’m really starting to appreciate the breadth of content, events and insights I have access to in the borderless digital sphere I’m finding myself existing in. Here are a few of my first finds of the year, I hope they provide some cultural respite.
PLAY
I’m seriously digging everything Nina Chanel Abney is doing right now. The playfulness of her immediately recognisable style makes for a refreshing way to engage with the heavier topics defining our zeitgeist such as race, sexuality, gender and politics. She’s always subverted art market expectations by engaging with authentic collaborations that make her work accessible in ways that few artists of her career level can attest to. The release of a limited edition vinyl figure titled Baby last year lead to fierce criticism from collectors who felt like she was diluting her market value. In November 2020 she was one of the 3 artists featured on the cover of the Disruption Issue of Vanity Fair, make of that what you will.
I only discovered her contribution to Acute Art, the augmented reality platform, this week but it’s come at a weirdly perfect time as galleries across the UK remain closed. The app allows you to superimpose digital pieces designed by leading contemporary artists onto your immediate environment through a phone camera to create your own live and responsive exhibition, a perfect activity for your daily state-sanctioned walk. Abney’s character titled Imaginary Friend is a wise Jesus-esque figure that provides guidance and poignant words of wisdom, she comments on the work:
I created “Imaginary Friend” to offer participants an always-ready companion to mitigate the uncertainty and precarity of today. This work brings to life childhood strategies of fantasy and play as a proxy for the loss of social comforts and physical contact we experience as adults.
WATCH
We Are Parable have spent the last 8 years producing events and experiences around screenings of both classic and new films. In 2017 they brought Spike Lee to London for a one-off talk and meet and greet event. Other larger-scale productions have involved a BFI x Marvel x Brian Coogler collaboration for the launch of Black Panther and a 3-month touring series celebrating the art of the Black visual album - basically, the calibre is high.
Over the last few months, they’ve developed Momentum in association with the Film and TV Charity, a programme designed to provide a platform for Black filmmakers to reach new audiences whilst supporting them with mentoring and mental health advice tailored to the struggles posed by the current global health crisis. One strand of this initiative is a free 3-day film screening and Q&A event hosted on the Rich Mix website featuring new work from emerging directors Nosa Eke, Candice Onyeama and Chloe Tai. More info and ticket booking links are available via the button below.
COLLECT
While we’re on the topic of film let’s pivot over to Black Star Fest, the internationally renowned Philly based festival once described as ‘the Black Sundance’ by Ebony magazine. The organisation which also hosts year-round screenings, seminars and exhibitions alongside their annual festival is celebrating it’s 10 year anniversary in 2021 and they’re marking the occasion by releasing 12 limited edition prints.
The collection is an interesting mix made up primarily of artists working in film but also includes illustrator Andrea Pippins (who designed the American 2020 Kwanza stamp) and Sankofa director Haile Gerima. The tiny editions of just 30 are released on 15th of each month, it’s unclear yet whether prices will vary depending on the weighting of the artist but January’s offering by documentary filmmaker Garrett Bradley is priced at $300.
LEARN
Academic, author, activist and the UK’s first Black Studies professor Kehinde Andrews is due to release the follow up to his 2018 book Back to Black: Retelling Black Radicalism for the 21st Century on 4th February. The new volume titled The New Age of Empie: How Racism and Colonialism Still Rule the World examines the very beginnings of European colonial expansion and argues that ‘genocide, slavery and colonialism are the key foundation stones upon which the West was built’.
The launch which takes place on Zoom (of course) is an in conversation with Andrews and Dawn Butler, Labour MP for Brent South who was named one of the 25 most influential women in the UK by Vogue in 2020. There are two ticket options priced at £5 and £20 respectively and the latter includes a signed copy of the book. All proceeds raised from the event will go towards funding the construction of the new Garvey Educational Centre in Birmingham.
LISTEN
Finding out that Jazz Re:Freshed had lost their permanent weekly residency at Mau Mau Bar in West London, due to gentrification no less, was one of the many nails in the coffin of 2020. Their legendary sessions which have been running for close to 18 years now have acted as a vital launchpad for too many jazz musicians to mention and were often the only place in London to see smaller international acts. Their commitment to ‘dope jazz’ has been unwavering particularly during times when it was getting little airtime outside of independent radio stations.
The good news is their weekly sessions are back - yes online because really and truly where are you hoping to see live music in this pandemmy. Following the tradition of the in-person events of old the sets are streamed each Thursday via Youtube and then made available online for a week for anyone who misses them live. You can listen to Romarna Campbell’s performance by clicking the link above and subscribe to their channel to get notified of future drops.
Magda xxx