Reframed – The Travelling World is Not Arriving
ReFramed is a Midlands-based network for Black, Asian and other racialised communities interested in producing photographic visual art. Set up by a team of award-winning photographers and curators, from these above communities, who believe that visual arts can play a critical role in shaping civic and contemporary attitudes. Starting collaborative conversations and changing prevailing thoughts about race, the local environment and our communities. As the first wave of COVID-19 approached, we were conscious of how our communities were being disproportionately affected and yet under-represented both in terms of who was being interviewed about it but also regarding who was asking the questions. The lack of inclusion and diversity in the media and the arts, whilst long-term and historical, seemed to be most apparent to us. Regrettably, even after many arts organisations, in the wake of the global Black Lives Matter movement, had pledged to be more inclusive. As a result, we undertook, with collaboration from Black Country Visual Arts and funding from the Arts Council, to create a range of opportunities for artists, from a cross-section of backgrounds, to respond directly to COVID-19 and the multiple ways it had affected their lives. The funding enabled us to support two artists, a number which later grew to five with the support of Kala Phool, Slanguages, New Art Exchange and Birmingham City University. Alongside these established artists we also, through workshop-based training opportunities, worked with several new artists across the Midlands to help them produce bodies of photographic work. We believe that it is fundamental that those involved in commissioning and making work that is directly about our communities, have the lived experiences, knowledge and consent of those communities in order to reflect them in honest and recognisable ways. In this light, it has been a great pleasure for all of us at ReFramed to have been able to give these artists the platform and opportunity to respond to this moment in time. The following images in this publication reflect the approaches of both our Bursary Artists and photographic workshop participants. Through their eyes we get to see their lives, thoughts and feelings reflected to us in an enduring time that is still yet to pass.
ReFramed is a Midlands-based network for Black, Asian and other racialised communities
interested in producing photographic visual art. Set up by a team of award-winning
photographers and curators, from these above communities, who believe that visual arts
can play a critical role in shaping civic and contemporary attitudes. Starting collaborative
conversations and changing prevailing thoughts about race, the local environment and our
communities.
As the first wave of COVID-19 approached, we were conscious of how our communities were
being disproportionately affected and yet under-represented both in terms of who was being
interviewed about it but also regarding who was asking the questions.
The lack of inclusion and diversity in the media and the arts, whilst long-term and historical,
seemed to be most apparent to us. Regrettably, even after many arts organisations, in
the wake of the global Black Lives Matter movement, had pledged to be more inclusive.
As a result, we undertook, with collaboration from Black Country Visual Arts and funding
from the Arts Council, to create a range of opportunities for artists, from a cross-section of
backgrounds, to respond directly to COVID-19 and the multiple ways it had affected their
lives.
The funding enabled us to support two artists, a number which later grew to five with the
support of Kala Phool, Slanguages, New Art Exchange and Birmingham City University.
Alongside these established artists we also, through workshop-based training opportunities,
worked with several new artists across the Midlands to help them produce bodies of
photographic work. We believe that it is fundamental that those involved in commissioning
and making work that is directly about our communities, have the lived experiences,
knowledge and consent of those communities in order to reflect them in honest and
recognisable ways.
In this light, it has been a great pleasure for all of us at ReFramed to have been able to
give these artists the platform and opportunity to respond to this moment in time. The
following images in this publication reflect the approaches of both our Bursary Artists and
photographic workshop participants. Through their eyes we get to see their lives, thoughts
and feelings reflected to us in an enduring time that is still yet to pass.
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
Ashwin Patel<br />
Pages 46 to 49<br />
Ashwin <strong>is</strong> a Brit<strong>is</strong>h Indian living in the West Midlands. He <strong>is</strong> fascinated by and passionate about<br />
the field of international relations with interest in the interplay of Culture and Politics from nonwestern<br />
perspectives. He <strong>is</strong> currently researching Interest Groups in India.<br />
H<strong>is</strong> love for photography has stemmed from watching and learning from family involved in the<br />
art. He loves it as a form of creative expression, as a tool and new perspective to investigate,<br />
express emotion, and d<strong>is</strong>cuss dimensions of life further.<br />
Identity has become an increasingly important aspect of h<strong>is</strong> life. As a Brit<strong>is</strong>h Indian, he has<br />
experienced personal conflict in fully embracing culture in h<strong>is</strong> life, initially desiring to assimilate<br />
to fit into a environment that didn’t always encourage and nurture a non-white heritage.<br />
As he has grown, Ashwin <strong>is</strong> confident embracing the warmth and vibrancy of Indian culture. He<br />
<strong>is</strong> passionate about exploring the different cultures within an individual’s heritage and identity.<br />
Pritt Kalsi<br />
NAE Bursary Award Winner<br />
www.prittkalsi.com<br />
@kingofthebeatsrecords<br />
Pages 50 to 55<br />
Multiple award-winning art<strong>is</strong>t, Pritt Kalsi, has been involved in the graffiti scene since 1984.<br />
Growing up in Birmingham, he was very quickly influenced by the spirit of the city and its hip<br />
hop scene. Pritt <strong>is</strong> from an immigrant family that came to the UK from Nairobi, Kenya. <strong>The</strong>ir<br />
original roots are Indian. Very working class, h<strong>is</strong> mother was a seamstress and h<strong>is</strong> father a<br />
machin<strong>is</strong>t.<br />
As other music trends and cultures came and went. Pritt stayed true to h<strong>is</strong> hip hop roots and<br />
went to New York to search out h<strong>is</strong> peers and those that pioneered th<strong>is</strong> movement.<br />
H<strong>is</strong> father had a passion for photography and quickly taught Pritt and h<strong>is</strong> brothers how to<br />
use cameras. Whilst studying design, Pritt became interested in film-making and furthered h<strong>is</strong><br />
interest in photography.<br />
At the same time, he learned the ins and outs of sampling and DJing, working with drum<br />
machines, old records, turntables and track recorders. After meeting legendary UK graffiti<br />
art<strong>is</strong>t, <strong>The</strong> Artful Dodger, Pritt was inspired to make h<strong>is</strong> first film, <strong>The</strong> King of <strong>The</strong> Beats. Th<strong>is</strong><br />
became an underground hit and inspired beat competitions all over the world. Th<strong>is</strong> led to Pritt<br />
making more films.<br />
De’Anne Crooks<br />
ReFramed Bursary Award Winner<br />
www.deannecrooks.com<br />
@de4nnecrooks<br />
Pages 56 to 61<br />
As an art<strong>is</strong>t-educator, much of De’Anne’s practice considers the collaborative and collective<br />
experiences of others. Engaging their practice as a form of activ<strong>is</strong>m rather than a teacher<br />
of art, De’Anne’s relationship with pedagogy and contemporary art has cultivated a strong<br />
sense of play with political, moral and emotional themes.<br />
During her fellowship with the Black Hole Club and within her recent comm<strong>is</strong>sions for<br />
the Film and Video Umbrella and Vivid Projects, De’Anne has been testing the prax<strong>is</strong> of<br />
contemporary art adjacent to and in harmony with Blackness. Using video, performative<br />
and fine art, De’Anne continues to address cultural pedagogy with a focus on the oracy of<br />
marginal<strong>is</strong>ed persons.<br />
With an unapologetic and deliberate approach to both education and art, De’Anne continues<br />
to challenge the authenticity and inclusivity of her own art<strong>is</strong>tic processes and the culture<br />
within Brit<strong>is</strong>h institutions.<br />
Pursuing opportunities that employ De’Anne’s hybrid skills of using art as an educational tool<br />
<strong>is</strong> a priority, so De’Anne’s venture into working more closely with and for her community <strong>is</strong><br />
anticipated.<br />
Sanah Iqbal<br />
@sanah.iqbal_<br />
Pages 62 to 67<br />
A Brit<strong>is</strong>h Pak<strong>is</strong>tani living in Birmingham, Sanah graduated with a BA in Photography in 2018.<br />
She focuses on contemporary minimal<strong>is</strong>m and architecture, with her work exploring abstract<br />
shapes and textures of buildings.<br />
Her aim <strong>is</strong> to re-engage viewers into red<strong>is</strong>covering the beauty within ordinary and everyday<br />
spaces.<br />
Taking an interest in curating, she has gained experience with organ<strong>is</strong>ations such as the New<br />
Art Gallery Walsall, Ort Gallery and Centrala Space.<br />
Working with ReFramed, Sanah has adopted a documentary approach when examining the<br />
effects that COVID-19 <strong>is</strong> having on the Muslim community.<br />
74 75
Change language