London-based artist Onyeka Igwe has mined colonial-era archives for three new films inspired by all-women protests against British rule in west Africa, currently showing together in the solo exhibition ‘No Dance, No Palaver’, in Hawick, Scotland. She discusses the spectre of the ‘colonial gaze’ and the ethics of archive research with Sonya Dyer.
Lubaina Himid has approached the fanfare surrounding her Turner Prize win with characteristic low-key charm and generosity. Sonya Dyer hails her influence and achievements and hopes she will now be properly recognised as a contemporary artist making vital work today.
The recent ‘What Should White Culture Do? Art, Politics, Race’ brought academics and artists together for a day-long symposium at the Royal College of Art. Sonya Dyer contends that, judging by the approach of some of those talking at the event, the answer to the question is, ‘Much more than this’.
To coincide with Soul of a Nation at Tate Modern, US writer Claudia Rankine presented a reading from her new play, which explores racism in the art world and beyond. Sonya Dyer found it a powerful vehicle for exploring the intersections of capitalism, race, empathy and resistance – particularly in light of the Dana Schutz Whitney Biennial controversy and a renewed focus on depictions of the Black body.
As Washington DC prepares for the 20 January presidential inauguration and the rest of the world is gripped/appalled by the latest predictably narcissistic Donald Trump Twitter outburst, London-based artist Sonya Dyer – who was on a residency in Nebraska during the election – reflects on her US experience and considers what the new era means for art and artists.
Programmed in relation to the current Ellen Gallagher exhibition at Tate Modern, the Afrofuturism’s Others seminar provided an enticing introduction to this cultural aesthetic. Artist and curator Sonya Dyer reports.
Our regular selection of shows to see around the UK, including a major retrospective of Bridget Riley at the Southbank Centre, London and a new video installation by the ZouZou Group at Ikon, Birmingham.
The national programme, which this year is delivered in partnership with Wysing Arts Centre, Eastside Projects, Iniva, S1 Artspace, Spike Island, and Studio Voltaire, provides learning for artists over a ten-month period.
Taking place on the idyllic Dartington Estate in Devon the a-n-supported Jamboree 2018 brought together 150 artists, curators and programmers from across the UK for lively discussion and the exchange of ideas. Hannah Pierce, a-n’s external programmes and partnerships manager, shares the key things she learnt from the event’s four days.
While strategies to pay artists better are forging ahead in the UK, this vital issue is also on high on the agenda in some other countries. Susan Jones reports on Working Artists: aspects of art and labour, a recent conference in South Korea which she also spoke at.
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