Négritude Reembodied Catalogue

NÉGRITUDE
REEMBODIED

Négritude Reembodied
featuring
Adelaide Damoah
Ayesha Feisal
Enam Gbewonyo
produced and co-curated by
Halime Özdemir
Preview 7 October
Exhibition 8-17 October 2020
an introduction in brief: Négritude Reembodied
Essay by Halime Özdemir | London, 4 October 2020
“I have a different idea of a universal. It is of a universal rich with all that is particular, rich
with all the particulars there are, the deepening of each particular, the coexistence of
them all.” - Aimé Césaire
The title of this exhibition is inspired by the concept-turned literary movement borne out
of Paris, in the 1930’s. At its core, this movement became a catalyst for art to find a forum
to express the essence of what “Blackness” meant, within a not only local but global
context. We have seen that whether this be through contributions to the ever evolving
prisms defined in world cultures; this revolution and dare I say, awakening, thus lead to
the reexamining of what “talent” and “value” could and should be defined by. The
growth in the movement was influenced by both Surrealism 2 and the Harlem
Renaissance 3 (where many francophone African and Caribbean colonies resided) which
is undoubtedly the conduit for the emergence of African American arts along with the
literary awareness of the black man's search for his own black identity, within the
constructs of “modern society”.
Négritude 2 , as a term first came into being as the expression of a revolt against the
historical situation of French colonialism and racism spearheaded by three black
students: Aimé Césaire 3 (Martinique), Léon Gontran Damas 4 (Guiana now Guyana) and
Léopold Sédar Senghor 5 (Senegal).
Visitor Information
Title:
Négritude Reembodied
Venue:
Hoxton 253 art project space
Address:
253 Hoxton Street, London, N15LG
Website:
www.hoxton253.com
Exhibition info: www.hoxton253.com/negritude-reembodied
Dates: 8 – 17 October 2020
Opening:
12-8pm Wednesday to Sunday
Instagram:
@hoxton253_artprojectspace
General enquiries: info@hoxton253.com
For press information and sales please contact:
Producer: Halime Özdemir
Email: halime.ozdemir@icloud.com
Tel: +44 (0) 7739508088
Instagram: @hali_oz
However the word, Négritude 6 , was coined by Aimé Césaire 7 himself, in his 1939 poem:
Cahier d’un retour au pays natal 8 which translates to Notebook of a Return to My Native
Land. By its very conception, Négritude 9 became a search for human dignity, and still to
this day, has many definitions and many meanings. It expresses an array of feelings
collectively and operates at different levels of expression through varying modalities,
styles and techniques from artist to artist, poet to poet and even place to place.
Borne out of necessity, Négritude 10 thus became the acknowledgement of and the
respect for black men and women as a fundamental component of shared humanity
within world civilisation. A movement aimed at cultivating "Black consciousness" across
Africa and its diaspora which took its first steps by examining Western values critically
and to further reassess African culture within this context.
“The civilization of the twentieth century cannot be universal except by being a dynamic
synthesis of all the cultural values of all civilizations. It will be monstrous unless it is
seasoned with the salt of Négritude, for it will be without the savor of humanity.” -
Léopold Sédar Senghor (1961) 11
As we find ourselves at a moment of global reset; a zero-sum game playing out through
pandemic, waging territorial disputes and world economies shutting down
simultaneously; new lines are being drawn with new allegiances being forged in the wake
of a pan-socio-economic epoch. Though currently in the shadow side; we are witnessing
the accelerated growth of pro-authoritarian leadership systems led by our own design
and technological advances. So, how is it that less than a 100 years on, we have yet to
come to a resolve? How is it that we find ourselves, still duty bound to the post-colonial
phantoms that are lurking in our institutions, in the very fabric of our civil societies? We
are now at a critical juncture in our shared humanity, to honour, respect and above all
learn from the lessons that history has countlessly endeavoured to teach.

Now is the time to tilt one's hat to tiswas and be prepared to challenge the dawn of a
new sunrise, without our say.
“like the scorpion's question mark drawn in the pollen on the canvas of the sky and of
our brains at midnight” - Aimé Césaire
The Négritude Reembodied exhibition is produced by and co-curated alongside myself,
Halime Özdemir in collaboration with the Black British Female Artist Collective (BBFA)
and is presented by HOXTON 253 in observance of Black History Month in the UK during
the month of October 2020.
Featuring three artists: Adelaide Damoah, Ayesha Feisal and Enam Gbewonyo the
exhibition not only reflects on the evolving nature of British art through the gaze of the
BBFA, but through a variety of points of view and artistic practices, which aims to provide
a window into the work of contemporary Black British art today.
promise of return or any hope of a new. Just a flash in the pan media of catastrophic
preconstruction. In such a poignant time in our societal evolution; Hear the cry! Raise
your hand, and make yourself known. The soil is ripe, and ready are the seeds to be sown
13, 14, 15
anew. Again, and so on.” - Halime Özdemir, 2020.
We hope that this exhibition, which is influenced by each artists’ own vernacular culture
and visual language; will form a microcosm in which we can perpetuate and host the
embodiment of the Négritude constructs, which will further ignite your thirst for a
radical rearrangement of civil responsibilities and social relations, perhaps?
Let's discuss.
In sharing the works of these three artists; we will not only be exploring the modus
operandi of the BBFA; but further aiming to cast a light on the diversity of contemporary
approaches to their practices. We will also see the works explore the artists’ impact on
the landscape of art and British culture, across their generation and disciplines in some
instances, to even agitate existing institutional frameworks.
On a broader cultural level, the exhibition examines the multicultural nature of Britain
and its generations of post colonial inhabitants at a time of division and isolation, which
is reflected not only within the country, but by examining global movements in the
context of the events that have jolted societies into this cataclysmic minefield of the year,
2020.
By not only addressing issues of historic legacy, activism and philosophies in a
postmodern world which unite the artists, despite their differing artistic strategies, points
of reference and medium. In questioning the tenets of Négritude this exhibition aims to
encourage the audience to adopt critical approaches toward how they perceive each
artist and their practice; beyond an aesthetic experience, but to critically view through
their cultural and artistic endeavours, alongside their disciplinary boundaries.
The artists in the exhibition all live and work in the UK, and are collectively first and
second generation west african and afro caribbean in descent. By reinterpreting Black
British contemporary art through the prism of their own varied cultural backgrounds and
artistic heritage; the artists urgently reaffirm the necessity for the diversity and openness
in Black British culture, at a pivotal point in not only the nation’s history, but that of the
global stage.
“Through the delicate tides echoing in the currents of our harbours, our quays and in our
seas. Yes, yes, I see “you”. It is so often that we fall prey to the rhetoric of the lack
thereof; in the pretence that the spectrum is nowhere near as vast as the eye can see. It
is specifically because I do see “you”, I don this cloak. Here, in this cockpit; driven from
the very core that is forged in the internal infernos of my essence, that has driven me to
the point of discourse, beyond that of the confines of my own thoughts.. It is for
everytime I hear the words: “Is she Black though?” and the answer is No. It is always No,
but I see “you”. So, now, how is it that we can move forward? I am most certainly not
coming from a place of ignorance nor am I here to intellectualise one's Blackness. But it
is only for so long can one wade through contemptuous condemnation. This alliance runs
deep. As I hear the cage doors rattle and stir colonial ghosts echoing within the bind of
my own island 12 dreams; it is in the sleepless nights, that ache within our bones as I watch
the fabric of our civil liberties being slowly stripped away, piece by piece without a
___________________________________________________________
(1) Cotter, Holland, "ART; A 1920s Flowering That Didn't Disappear", New York Times, 24 May
1998.
(2) Web reference, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/s/surrealism
(3) Bergson, Henri, 1944, Creative Evolution, New York: Random House.
(4) The Complete Poetry of Aimé Césaire, Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 2017
(5) Diagne, S.B. African Art as Philosophy. Senghor, Bergson and the Idea of Negritude, trans.
Chike Jeffers, London, New York, and Calcutta: Seagull Books, 2011
(6) Cesaire, A, "Cahier d'un Retour au Pays Natal", 1 November 1989
(7) Sharpley-Whiting,T.D, “Femme negritude. Jane Nardal, La Depeche africaine, and the
Francophone New Negro”, in Souls: A Critical Journal of Black Politics, Culture, and Society, 2000
(8) Freedom Time. Negritude, Decolonization, and the Future of the World, Durham: Duke
University Press, 2015.
(9) Aloni, Nimrod and Weintrob, Lori, “Beyond Bystanders: Educational Leadership for a Humane
Culture in a Globalizing Reality”, 15 Mar 2017
(10) From “A vehicle of cultural transmission in Africa”, Parkfield Press. September 2019.
(11) Traoré, Makhroufi Ousmane, “Pedagogies Of Empire Rethinking National And Global
Citizenship Through Imperial Histories”
(12) Web reference, Cyprus Coup,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1974_Cypriot_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat
(13) Excerpt from the poem, “A Londoner in Real Time” by Halime Özdemir, 2020.
(14) Web reference, British Cyprus, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Cyprus
(15) Web reference, Cyprus Dispute, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyprus_dispute

about BBFA
Founded in 2015, and consisting of four artists Adelaide Damoah, Ayesha Feisal, Enam
Gbewonyo and Carleen De Sözer; whose work diversely reflects Diaspora stories, the
Black British Female Artist (BBFA) collective serves to address the invisibility of UK’s Black
female artists and disparity in prominence to their male counterparts.
Since its inception, the BBFA Collective have delivered and participated in a number of
successful projects including their first cross cultural artist exchange, Dispersed, funded
by Arts Council England and delivered in partnership with Nubuke Foundation and
Chale Wote Street Art Festival in Ghana. Active within their field, the BBFA frequently
participate in talks and panel discussions with institutions such as the Royal Academy of
Arts, British High Commission in Nigeria, Wish Africa, Goldsmiths University, Oxford
University, South London Gallery, Beaconsfield Gallery, and Kuenyehia Art Prize Ghana.
They have exhibited at the African and African Caribbean Design Diaspora (AACDD)
Festival, TEDxEuston, as part of the late Bisi Silva’s ‘Gallery of Small Things’ which
showed at ACDF Lagos, Nigeria and Dak’art Biennale and in No Room for Fear the Black
History Month exhibition co-curated with Nigerian artspace SMO Contemporary in
partnership with Hogan Lovells LLP and the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art.
In 2018 the BBFA became represented by the London-Fitzrovia based Tafeta Gallery,
who have since delivered the group show BBFA Presents, presented the collective at
ART X Lagos, Nigeria and presented the solo show Transitions for collective member,
Ayesha Feisal.
Key partnerships include the 2018 ‘Calling All Creators’ collaboration with adidas USA
and Germany which saw BBFA artists deliver talks, performances and workshops as part
of the brand’s staff development programme. In 2018, they also partnered with the Paris
based arts and culture platforms Little Africa and Des Gosses to present the artist
residency Marrakech Off The Tracks for 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair. BBFA also
have an ongoing partnership with Tate (Britain & Modern) working alongside their
Schools and Teachers team to develop teaching resources for a number of their
exhibitions.

about Adelaide Damoah
‘All of my performances have at their core the principle of Sankofa- ancient Akan
(Ghanaian) idea which tells us to learn from our past in order to live a better present and
future.’
British-Ghanaian artist Adelaide Damoah is a London based multidisciplinary artist, using
investigative practices which currently span painting, performance, collage, image
transfer and photographic processes. Key areas of interest for interrogation are
colonialism, spirituality and intersectional feminism. After studying applied biology (BA
Hons, Kingston University, Surrey, her subsequent career in the pharmaceutical industry
was cut short following a diagnosis of the debilitating chronic illness endometriosis.
While convalescing, she dedicated herself to art.
Since her debut exhibition ‘Black Brits’ in 2006 (Charlie Allen’s Boutique, London, UK),
Damoah has exhibited in myriad group shows including Opera Gallery, Budapest,
Hungary (2009); Bargehouse Gallery, London (2015) as part of the AACDD Festival; ‘A
Seat at the Table’, 198 Gallery, London, ‘Dispersed’, Nubuke Foundation (+Chale Wote),
Ghana; UNFOLD Festival, London; Article 10, Amnesty International, London, ACDF
Festival, Lagos, Nigeria, and in 2018 at ‘We Face Forward’ Bonhams, London, Little
Africa Des Gosses, Marrakesh, (Off the Tracks) as part of an artist residency. In 2019,
Damoah was selected for ‘No Room for Fear’ with SMO Contemporary, BBFA Collective
and Smithsonian in London, ‘Under the Skin’ (Royal College of Physicians Museum,
London), and ArtX Lagos with Tafeta Gallery.
She has performed internationally including her ongoing ‘Confronting Colonisation’
project (Into The Mind Of The Coloniser performance), Reanimating Shadow Projections
of the Real (Black Shade Projects Morocco), ‘#MYFACE’ Visual Diet, Cannes Lions
Festival, Cannes, ‘This is Me: The Inconsistency of the Self II’ Musée national de l’histoire
de l’immigration, Paris, Adidas ‘Calling all Creators’ performance Portland Oregon, USA.
Past solo exhibitions include ‘Supermodels’, Nolia’s Gallery, London (2008); ‘Domestic
Violence’, Mayfair, London (2009); ‘This is Us’, Camden Image Gallery, London (2015)
and ‘Genesis’, 1 Bedford Avenue, London
(2018), her first solo exhibition as an academician at the RWA in Bristol (2020) and her
most recent solo exhibition, Reembodying The Real at Boogie Wall Gallery in Mayfair.
Damoah has works placed in private collections nationally and internationally. She is a
founding member of the Black British Female artist (BBFA) Collective which is
represented by Tafeta Gallery, London and a co-founder of the Intersectional Feminist
(INFEMS) Art Collective. In 2019, Damoah became the first black artist to be appointed
an academician of the Royal West of England Academy (RWA) and was an invited artist
and selector at their open exhibition in Bristol.

Dreams of overcoming no. 4
2020
Cyanotype, acrylic ink and 24-carat gold leaf on handmade watercolour paper
29cm x 38cm
£7500
Adelaide Damoah on Négritude:
Aimé Césaire address delivered in Geneva on June 2nd 1978:
“… when it appeared the literature of Négritude created a revolution: in the darkness
of the great silence, a voice was raising up, with no interpreter, no alteration, and no
complacency, a violent and staccato voice, and it said for the first time: “I, Nègre.”
A voice of revolt
A voice of resentment
No doubt
But also of fidelity, a voice of freedom, and first and foremost, a voice for the retrieved
identity.”
This statement by Négritude founding father Aimé Cesaire is still pertinent today. For
me, the last sentence really resonates.
In my lifetime, I have never felt such urgency in the air to address the inequalities which
we have always known existed. Nor have I ever experienced a time when marginalised
people have felt more empowered to fight for a free and authentic voice and for a
“retrieved identity”.Sadly, I have also never seen such obvious polarisation of thought
when it comes to these issues.
The time feels right to take a close look at the philosophy of the Negritude movement
and how it united a generation of poets and artists of all races to address the issues of
the period. As colonised people, the founding fathers and mothers of the movement
faced a different kind of struggle to the struggle we face today, but they believed in the
power of their art to unite, critique and move the conversation and ultimately the fight
forward.
As an artist, I feel that I am embodying the philosophy of Negritude now more than
ever. The events of 2020 have encouraged introspection and a unique reevaluation of
the self via an inward turn. A part of this has brought me to a point where a conscious
and intentional expression of the philosophy of Negritude together with my BBFA
Collective sisters feels like an honour and a privilege and at the same time, an absolute
necessity.
There is much we can learn from what our Negritude forefathers left behind. I hope
that this exhibition opens the door for all of us to hear the voices of their spectres as
they reach down through the generations to teach us lessons from the past that enrich
our present and future.

Dreams of overcoming no. 6
2020
Cyanotype, acrylic ink and 24-carat gold leaf on handmade watercolour paper
29cm x 38cm
£7500
Dreams of overcoming no. 7
2020
Cyanotype, acrylic ink and 24-carat gold leaf on handmade watercolour paper
29cm x 38cm
£7500
Dreams of overcoming no. 9
2020
Cyanotype, acrylic ink and 24-carat gold leaf on handmade watercolour paper
29cm x 38cm
£7500

Part 1. My body is present.
31 hour performance piece
2018
Film
4’32”
POA

Part 2. My body is present. Homage to Ana Mendieta. 31 hour performance piece
2018
Oil on canvas
219cm x 376cm
POA

about Ayesha Feisal
“Art is where we discover and express our humanity; a place where we find a language
to share our ideas and our emotions. It has the responsibility of helping society deal with
its conflicts and contradictions. As an artist, I see it as my role to facilitate this.”
Ayesha Feisal is a British/ Sierra Leonean artist born in London, where she currently lives
and works. Within her art, Feisal creates complex, amorous forms, drawing inspiration
from the study of behaviour and the mind, whilst exploring the effects of experience.
Influenced by the painting styles of the expressionist and futurist movement; her intrigue
comes from how artists of such eras depicted meaning and experience; as well as
movement and time. As a result, she displays intense – and sometimes unnatural –
colours as a way to heighten the emotion in her work.
Feisal’s art is reflective of her interest in psychological states and she uses the human
form as a means to explore the psyche. Her works have been an ongoing response to
events and situations; influenced by her interest in consciousness, universal law, balance
and truth. She is drawn to portray characters with elevated mindsets, who move beyond
the impact of circumstance, environment and social condition.
Concerned with issues that affect black women globally, Feisal sees creativity as a form
of resistance and is an ardent advocate for self empowerment. In 2015 she became a
founding member of the Black British Female Artist (BBFA). The BBFA collective
addresses the invisibility of UK’s Black female artists and disparity in prominence to their
male counterparts. Focussed on building opportunities for black female artists, the work
diversely reflects Diaspora stories.
Feisal has exhibited in numerous group shows including Bargehouse Gallery, London
(2015) as part of the AACDD Festival; ‘A Seat at the Table’, 198 Gallery, London; ACDF
Festival, Lagos, Nigeria; 1:54 Contemporary Art Fair ‘Off The Tracks’ with Little Africa/
Des Gosses Marrakech, Morocco as part of an artist residency and Dakar Biennale (OFF
Dak'Art Gallery of Small Things) Senegal. In 2019, Feisal was selected for ‘No Room for
Fear’ with SMO Contemporary, BBFA Collective and Smithsonian in London, and ArtX
Lagos with Tafeta Gallery.

The Saving Grace
2020
Acrylic on canvas
100cm x 150cm
£6500
“In alchemical symbolism, the triangle represents the three planes of existence which
we experience in our journey of human consciousness. There is the physical plane
(body), the mental plane (mind) and the astral plane (spirit or soul). The number three is
known as the Triangle of Manifestation It represents thoughts, emotions and actions all
of which culminate in the experience we create for ourselves. Due to the fact that
triangles contain three corners and three sides they are often linked to different
trinities: mind, body & spirit; mother, father & child; past, present & future; mother,
maiden & crone; thought, feeling & emotion and creation, preservation and
destruction.
As a society and individuals we must remain in constant reflection and dialogue with
ourselves.” Ayesha Feisal

Some Things You Can Ask Me
2020
Acrylic on canvas
50 x 70cm
£2800
Go Ahead, I’m Listening
2020
Acrylic on canvas
50 x 70cm
£2800

Sorry, I didn't Get That
2020
Acrylic on canvas
50 x 70cm
£2800
Ayesha Feisal on Négritude:
‘For me, the BBFA embody the spirit of Negritude (the concept of expression as a
revolt). In particular the case of Jane Nardal, a writer, philosopher, teacher and political
commentator. Whilst she and her sister Paulette Nardal are considered to have laid the
theoretical and philosophical groundwork of the Negritude movement, as women, their
important contributions have for the most part been overlooked. I see creativity and
expression as form of resistance; a source of empowerment and through both our
(BBFA) collective and individual work, we continue to address the disparity in
prominence to our male counterparts.
For me, this exhibition is so poignant. At a time where society is at turning point,
during a global pandemic where issues of discrimination and oppression are hard to
ignore; the information age where images and information can be shared at lightning
speed. Collectively our society is forced to reflect, to look at current practices, attitudes
and their impact. We are seeing promises of social reform (as well as numerous
performative gestures) the outcomes of which we are yet to see.
Despite all this, I’m hopeful. There’s been a shift in our collective psyche and the Earth’s
energy. There will be (and have been) many ‘rebirths’ in a sense, as people
renew their bodies and minds and get used to new ways of thinking, living and
working. The ‘vital force’ to which Senghor referred will be restored.’

about Enam Gbewonyo
Enam Gbewonyo born in London, is a British Ghanaian textile and performance artist.
Her practice investigates identity, womanhood, and humanity while also advocating the
healing benefits of craft. With her performance work, Gbewonyo seeks to deliver the
collective consciousness to a positive place of awareness by creating live spaces of
healing. By using craft as her portal she pushes us to face the truth of a dark past and the
emotions it brings forth. Thus bringing us to a point of spiritual awareness both of self
and humanity.
Gbewonyo has exhibited with galleries and institutions such as: Tafeta Gallery, Bonhams,
New Ashgate Gallery, Sulger-Buel Lovell Gallery and Artist Project Contemporary Art
Fair, Toronto. She has delivered performances for Christie’s, Hogan Lovells LLP, Henry
Moore Institute, as part of the collateral programme for the opening week of the 58th
edition of Venice Biennale and as part of the 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair
Marrakech public programme. Her collaborative commissioned artwork exploring
empire, slavery, colonisation and the tea trade is currently on view at the Ashmolean
Museum, Oxford.
Passionate about elevating black women artists, Gbewonyo is also a curator and writer
as well as the founder of the Black British Female Artist (BBFA) Collective.
“It is such a pleasure to collaborate with HOXTON 253 art project space and
producer/curator Halime Ozdemir on this project. In what understandably has been a
quiet year for the Collective the exhibition holds even more countenance especially
being held in observance of Black History Month. This year's events have impacted the
Collective's members in numerous ways each of them turning to their artistic practice as
both shield and saviour. It has created space for much reflection, introspection and
investigation. Much of which has led them down similar paths, looking to the past and
its teachings to find a way forward. In the concept of Négritude we have found our way
forward. In a sense it was a concept already embodied within our practice. However the
theories Cesaire and his contemporaries explored hold such power in this moment it felt
right that this exhibition bear the mark of them, our forefathers. It is my belief that our
ancestors live within us and work through us. In this way we are both the physical and
spiritual embodiment of their teachings voiced this time in visual rather than literal
narrative. This exhibition is both provocation and an empowering rallying cry. We pray all
will heed our message.”

Masked in the sheer audacity of
Chicago's perceptions of blackness
and womanhood, MY NUDE! (Left)
2018
Burnout nylon tights with cotton hand
embroidery and stitching
£4550
Masked in the sheer audacity of
Chicago's perceptions of blackness
and womanhood, NUDE (Right)
2018
Burnout nylon tights with cotton hand
embroidery and stitching
£4550

Fair Skinned like Brown Paper?
2020
Nylon tights (Sheer Chemistry, Parisian Dream) with cotton thread hand stitching and
embroidery, acrylic and tea stained tissue paper on tea stained canvas
120cm x 160cm
£6900

Teetering on the edge of visibility, the
invisible disguised as visible III
2019
Vintage family and erotica photographs on tea stained recycled paper, used tights and
cotton thread hand stitching on tea stained canvas
30cm x 30cm x 7.5cm
£3000
Teetering on the edge of visibility, the
invisible disguised as visible IV
2019
Vintage family and erotica photographs on tea stained recycled paper, used tights and
cotton thread hand stitching on tea stained canvas
30cm x 30cm x 7.5cm
£3000

about Halime Özdemir
Halime Özdemir, (b. Famagusta, Cyprus, raised in London, UK) is an International Arts
Producer, and works with commercial, institutional and not for profit arts organisations
and contemporary artists to develop and produce a wide range of multidisciplinary visual
arts content, also covering film and music productions worldwide. With particular focus
on audience engagement and technical know-how; Halime is widely known for
managing and delivering projects for the likes of Elephant Magazine, Frieze, and
supporting exhibitions at the British Museum, Royal Academy of Arts, White Cube,
Istanbul Biennial to name a few and most recently, producing for La Ira de Dios, in
Buenos Aires; cheLA: Centro Hipermediático Experimental Latinoamericano and the
Bagri Foundation in London.
Halime has recently produced Revaluing the Self a Brand New Performance by Adelaide
Damoah, which premiered 13 August 2020 at Boogie-Wall Gallery, Mayfair, London and
is currently producing and curating the UK premiere of Absolutely Augmented Reality, a
collaborative art project by the New York based artists Kuzma Vostrikov and Ajuan Song.

about HOXTON 253 art project space
“Our aim is to use art to act as a cultural bridge between national and international artists
as well as within the local community. We run a diverse program of exhibitions,
experimental projects, workshops, events and screenings. Through our community
outreach projects we also aim to provide culturally valuable creative activities to both the
younger and older generations. We nurture local, national and international creative
talents, provide accessible exhibition space, and build a community of artists and visitors
with the objective to provoke critical dialogue within contemporary culture and society.
Our doors are open to all, and for the purpose of accessibility our programmes are
primarily free of charge.”
HOXTON 253 art project space prides itself as a leading grassroots cultural organisation
in promoting ecological consciousness not only through their projects but also within
their business setup. The cultural event space has been running on green energy since
its foundation, using zero landfill waste disposal and zero emission delivery services,
while they lay a strong emphasis on conscious material usage, recycling, and waste
reduction within their art programme.
The initiative was born less than two years ago, but has already proven to be a valuable
platform to artists including those with non-commercial focus. HOXTON 253 hosted,
produced and co-curated a vast array of events and exhibitions within the short period
of its existence. As part of their 2020 Black History Month programme, the gallery
directors Zsuzsa Benke and Mirko Boffelli are delighted to be collaborating with the
BBFA and Halime Özdemir, to showcase Négritude Reembodied.
All images © 2020 Mirko Boffelli Photography.
Négritude Reembodied catalogue © 2020 Zsuzsa Benke for
HOXTON 253.
For image usage and licensing please contact mirko@hoxton253.com
Further exhibition information: hoxton253.com/negritude-reembodied