KALABORATION HAS BEEN DEVISED TO DELIVER A PROGRAMME OF VISUAL ARTS ACTIVITIES IN CELEBRATION OF THE 2012 OLYMPIC GAMES AND COMMEMORATE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF JAMAICAN INDEPENDENCE.
A PARTNERSHIP PROJECT BETWEEN THE DRUM ARTS CENTRE, SCHOOL OF ART BIRMINGHAM INSTITUTE OF ART AND DESIGN (BIAD) BIRMINGHAM CITY UNIVERSITY AND ROGUEPLAY THEATRE.
Hello all just wanted to let you know that Kalaboration is still here, having completed delivery of projects under the London 2012 – Jamaica 50 banner. Remember the Olympics and Jamaica 50? Seems like a long time ago, but very rewarding in terms of the commissions, discussions, exhibitions, workshops, launches and other activities we took part in. So a big thank you to everyone that contributed to making it such a success. We are now at the stage of developing new ideas for 2013 onwards and will keep you informed as things transpire. I am sure you will understand that we can not announce anything until funds etc are in place to do so. So in the mean time we will aim to keep you abreast of what’s happening.
Keith Piper has produced an artist publication to accompany the installation that took place in 2012 as part of the Kalaboration artist commissions. A Short Sprint examines the political path taken by the island of Jamaica since independence, using the metaphor of a “sprint”. The publication provides a detailed insight of the history of Jamaica, its, heritage from slavery, emancipation through colonialism to eventual independence, juxtaposed with the islands development in the world of athletics and the prowess of its sprint athletes on the world stage. This is a great read for anyone who was unable to visit the installation as it provides stills, text and images of the gallery and installation in-situ.
Tiwani Contemporary is currently hosting Barbara Walker’s first major solo exhibition in London. This exhibition will present new large-scale drawings as well as existing work depicting ‘unidentifiable’ males. Executed with charcoal and graphite, these portraits raise questions about societal constructs and examine how identity has come to be understood as an accumulation of images and cultural representations. As Seen captures nuances of Walker’s practice in the way she selects, interrogates and scrutinizes anonymous male identities in her native city of Birmingham and as well as abroad. Walker’s work is largely informed by her observations of life in urban landscapes and her commitment to giving voice to the anonymous young men she observes, as seen in Dinkies, 2012, – a Soweto born visual artist that Walker met in 2008 whilst on residency at leading visual arts organisation The Bag Factory , in Johannesburg.
Walker’s portraits indirectly reference writer Malcolm Bernard’s book , in which he asserts that “fashion and clothing are ways in which inequalities of social and economic status are made to appear right and legitimate and therefore acceptable.” Using clothing and hairstyles of black males as her starting point, this ongoing body of work allows the viewer to consider alternate spheres in which identities are formed.
Her work is also of a personal nature and shaped by her own experiences with raising her son Solomon. As Seen also includes works from the series titled Louder Than Words. The artwork My Song, 2006 is inspired by the stop and search procedures experienced by her son by the West Midlands Police.
Working primarily in drawing and painting, Barbara Walker’s practice touches on class and themes of representation, power and belonging; exploring how social and political realities manifest through cultural praxis and underpin the contemporary society around us.
About the Artist:
Barbara Walker studied at the University of Central England in the 1990s, gaining a first class honors degree in Art and Design. Her work has been included in a number of international exhibitions and she has also presented solo national shows of her drawings and paintings. Recent exhibitions include:
Deptford X
, London (2012)
Fehily Contemporary
, Melbourne (2012),
The New Art Gallery Walsall
, Walsall (2011),
New Art Exchange
, Nottingham (2010)
East International
09, Norwich (2009),
Vane Contemporary
, Newcastle upon Tyne (2009), The Bag Factory, Johannesburg (2008),
Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery
, Birmingham (2008). Her work is in private collections: Birmingham Collective, UK,
The Usher Gallery
, Lincoln, UK and in several private collections in South Africa, UK and the US. Barbara Walker lives in Birmingham.
Tiwani Contemporary cordially invites you to join them at the opening on:
As Seen will run from 1 February – 23 March 2013 at Tiwani Contemporary.
Vivid Projects confirms the launch of a new art space in Warwick Bar, part of the Eastside/Digbeth creative quarter in Birmingham, UK, on 22 February 2013.
This new agency led by the curatorial team behind ‘VIVID’ has been awarded a crucial grant from Arts Council England to boost a two year programme of work in Birmingham.
The opening multi-media season 33 REVOLUTIONS will be a dynamic and sometimes challenging 8-month programme that asks the question; can art and culture be a catalyst for social change? Thought provoking encounters between new works and archive from 1960s to the present addresses the ways in which film makers and artists from a diverse range of cultural situations and societies have protested.
33 REVOLUTIONS takes the audience on a journey through film, print, performance and song, celebrating personal acts of protest and resistance from the dance floors of 70’s NYC to the anti-institutional spirit of 1960s – 70s Britain right up to the simmering Arab Spring and Occupy!.
Director of Vivid Projects, Yasmeen Baig-Clifford says: ‘We will be bringing work from film makers, activists and artists from a diverse range of cultural situations spanning the US, UK, the Middle East and Asia, right to the heart of Birmingham.
Professor Roger Shannon, Board of Directors, Vivid Projects: “Following a challenging period of structural development in a difficult economic climate, this development is a fantastic boost for the new agency. We thank Arts Council England for their investment in us.”
33 REVOLUTIONS runs from February – September 2013 and launches with Revolution 01, ‘Ladies and Gentlemen, How Long Will They Last?” at 7pm, Friday 22 February 2013.
Turning Point West Midlands is pleased to announce the launch of New Art West Midlands (NAWM) is a new platform to showcase work by selected art graduates and is a partnership between TPWM, Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, The Barber Institute, Grand Union, and Birmingham City University, Coventry University, Staffordshire University, University of Wolverhampton and University of Worcester.
The exhibition takes place across 3 venues:
NAWM is a major development for the TPWM network, providing a significant opportunity for artists to show work across these reputable institutions at a crucial time in their development.
A catalogue has been produced to accompany the exhibition and includes essays by independent curator Rachel Bradley and Lisa Beauchamp, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, and by the three selectors, Lynda Morris, Jeremy Millar, and Keith Piper.
Information on other TPWM Projects can be found at:
http://www.tpwestmidlands.org.uk/projects
That’s all for now will be back with more information soon.
kalaboration
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