The Power of Memory - Artist conversations
In celebration of International Women's Day, CasildART and Fusion Arts have come together to organise a series of talks, one of which will take place here at New College on Friday 18th March at 6pm.
Nomadic gallerist, Sukai Eccleston of CasildART, will discuss the power of memory in contemporary Black art with multidisciplinary artists Favour Jonathan and Kedisha Coakley.
Tickets are free but attendees will need to register online to attend the talk beforehand.
Favour Jonathan is a Benin born British artist who works primarily with metal to create large scale sculptures. Last year, Jonathan won the Sky Arts Landmark challenge for her monumental mesh sculpture of Ira Aldridge holding a watch, signifying his role as a changemaker who prevailed in spite of the time. The tribute to the African American actor, who lived and worked in Britain during the mid-19th Century, has been installed in Coventry City Centre, but it is not the first monument Jonathan has created. Her sculpture of Claudia Jones, the Trinidadian journalist and activist who inspired the Notting Hill Carnival, defines Jonathan’s practice, which she asserts is guided by her ancestors to share their stories and bring forgotten lives into the present. ‘We should know about the achievements of those who have gone before us and we should be celebrating them’.
Kedisha Coakley is also concerned about erasure. Working with sculpture, photography and printmaking, Coakley considers material memories by looking at objects and cultural symbols to reframe narratives about history and culture, and to challenge conventions of curatorial practice. Her Wallpaper Mural series, which is on view in the group show, Some of Us Are Brave at 95 Gloucester Green OX1 2BU, stems from Coakley's interest in the designs and popularity of wallpaper between the18th and 20th centuries which coincided with the expansion of the British Empire. At once lyrical and haunting, the wallpapers utilise patterns and symbols like the fleur-de-lis which was used as a mark of supremacy in the punishment and branding of enslaved Africans, and fuses it with Ghanaian Adinkra symbols which represent hope, freedom and endurance.
Both artists, although different in their style and execution, invoke themes of memory that question the self and our collective experience. Constructing spaces that inspire dialogue, they invite the viewer to consider how memories are made and how these shape our feelings of belonging and understanding of the world.
The talk is one in a series of events CasildART has organized as part of International Women's Day celebrations in March. in partnership with Fusion Arts. The exhibition Some Us Are Brave features the work of 15 emerging Black women artists and is currently on view at 95 Gloucester Green, OX1 2BU.
The art exhibition has been curated by Sukai Eccleston, founder and owner of CasildART a not for profit that supports contemporary Black artists by exhibiting their work in traditional and non traditional settings. This is the third rendition of Some of Us Are Brave, which CasildART has developed as a UK-wide touring exhibition. Fusion Arts is a catalyst for creative projects in the heart of East Oxford and beyond. It was established in 1977 to support social justice and education and has been working to host and initiate artistic projects that promote critical connections between artists and their local community.
Sukai Eccleston and Kedisha Coakley