Group exhibition on Black and Asian identity

Aim

Aiming to raise funds towards a group exhibition to become an annual event on the exploration of diaspora identity

About the Exhibition

Plurality Now: New Futures is a group exhibition gathering London-based artists exploring the multifaceted concept of identity for 1st to 3rd generation of Black and Asian immigrants. The angle will be of an identity continuum, an idea that identity is, in the words of Stuart Hall, "never complete, always in process" and in “constant transformation, transcending time and space”. Focusing on cultural identity, we aim to value each individual’s experience as much as the common experience for people of colour in the journey of discovering and understanding one’s identity and heritage in a globalised and immensely multicultural world. The show will explore the sense of displacement and the difficulty of belonging: when one is found in-between spaces, in-between peoples, countries, and cultures. We seek to shed light on this feeling that makes one's question their own identity and comprehend the evolution of it into something new and different, blended. This show will highlight the importance of acknowledging the past while looking forward and forging the now.

When identity becomes plural, how do these conditions and ideas shape the new and the future of those communities?

• Confirmed artists:

Yvadney Davis 

Jaffar Aly

Shumaiya Khan 

Xavier Leopold 

Max Limbu 

Katasha Rose 

Jade They

• Collaborators for workshops and Talks:

Skaped, InxSanixTy

Potential contacted: South East Asian Centre, Asian Women resource centre, BAATN

Goal

Looking to hire the 198 Gallery in Herne Hill (London, UK) for a period of two weeks in September, this project aims to give voice to first to third generations of Black and Asian immigrants and celebrate plurality in diaspora identity through art, talks and workshops, by showcasing visual artists and building partnerships with collaborators.

The 198 Gallery coincide with the theme and our values. 

'Founded in 1988, 198’s motivation initially focused on the need to provide a platform for Afro-Caribbean and Asian artists as part of the Black arts movement. For nearly 30 years this work has evolved and continued to develop with projects that consider the work and study of emerging cultural identities, through exhibitions, workshops, education projects and critical debate with artists, thinkers, activists, young people and local and artistic communities.'

The project will provide opportunities for people of all ages and socio-economical background to engage with the theme of the exhibition. It will be free as well as the talks and workshops to enable to bring cultural activity into the heart of a community of people colour, help remove any barriers to access the art world, a place where some might feel they don't belong. The event will be a safe space to meet and talk about cultural identity and how it feels to be and qualified as diaspora.

What are we raising for

•    Pay the artists fairly and pay for artists' material

•    Pay the workshops host fairly and pay for workshop material

•    Pay photographer and designer fairly 

•    Pay DJs for opening and closing night fairly

•    Hire invigilating staff and pay fairly

•    Promotional printing of catalogues and posters

•    Equipment rental (speakers, screens for video art, microphones)

•    Renting of the space

If it happens that we do not raise enough money for the event, the time of exhibiting will be reduced, we would then be able to spread the money as stated above. All will be shared in the updates section. 

About me

My name is Segolene Py (b. 1991, France), and I am the founder of Exhibition Crave, a project and art blog that saw the light 5 years ago. The purpose of this platform is to showcase Black art exhibitions happening in London and on a bigger scale, to present Caribbean and African artists from around the world. Being French Caribbean, I like to focus more on the Caribbean scene.

This project is a personal one. Being of mixed heritage, I connect deeply with the subject of identity and the constant search to make sense out of it. The conception of this exhibition has been 2 years of hard thinking to bring to light, and gathering the courage to do it. I want to touch not only the Black community but at large all people of colour who found themselves in-between cultures, countries, peoples, with a feeling of displacement or this deep feeling of not belonging. I wish to open dialogue on this subject and be able to find an answer, if not a path towards it. I wish not to forget the past but acknowledge it, accept it, and go forward with it. An attitude I find needed to escape a vicious circle where past mistakes are often repeated.

If you wish to see the budget in details please do not hesitate to contact me.

Thank you for your time spent here and for your donations towards this adventure! All fund raised will go towards the goal of the event.

This project successfully funded on 27th July 2023