Thursday 10 May 2018 – Sunday 7 October 2018
EXHIBITION: AZZEDINE ALAÏA THE COUTURIER (THE DESIGN MUSEUM, LONDON)
“Conceived and co-curated with Monsieur Alaïa before his death in November 2017, the exhibition charts his incredible journey from sculptor to couturier, his nonconformist nature and his infectious energy for fashion, friendship and the female body. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Alaïa personally constructed each garment by hand and refused to bow to the pressures of fashion week deadlines, instead working to his own schedule. His collaborative approach earned him an esteemed client list, including Greta Garbo, Grace Jones, Michelle Obama and Rihanna. Rather than a retrospective, the show interlaces stories of his life and career alongside personally selected garments, ranging from the rare to the iconic and spanning the early 1980s to his most recent collection in 2017.”
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Until 19 May 2018
THEATRE: WAR PLAYS (TRISTAN BATES THEATRE, LONDON)
“Kali Productions Presents Global stories of courage and hope amid the chaos of war. A season of seven staged readings of compelling new plays inspired by women’s experiences of global conflict spanning Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Iraq, Tibet, Bangladesh and occupied France. ‘War Plays’ has been developed to mark the 70th anniversary of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights after the Second World War. Some of our best and most original women’s voices in new theatre writing tell contemporary, thought-provoking stories of courage, hope and determination amid the chaos, suspicion and displacement of war. This two week festival will feature seven full-length new plays plus two weekend events featuring leading female journalists and human rights activists talking about the impact of conflict on women.”
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Monday 14 May 2018
TALK: CONTESTED STATUES – HOW SHOULD WE MEMORIALISE THE PAST? (EMMANUEL CENTRE, LONDON)
‘These are the history wars we are having…Statues have become lightning rods for a struggle we are going to have to have about our history.’– David Olusoga, historian and one of the presenters of the BBC’s Civilisations series.
“Statues and memorials to famous figures of the past adorn our towns and cities. But what should be done when some of these figures have come to be seen by many people as controversial symbols of oppression and discrimination? In Britain, the ‘Rhodes Must Fall’ campaign hit the headlines when it demanded the removal of the statue of Cecil Rhodes from Oxford’s Oriel College, of which he was a leading benefactor, because of his colonialism. In the US, violent protests in Charlottesville were sparked by a decision to remove from a park a statue of Robert E. Lee, a Confederate general in the American Civil War, because of the association of the Confederacy with slavery. Passions run high on both sides. Are those calling for the removal of controversial statues seeking to right an historical injustice or are they trying to erase history? And are those who object to removing memorials defending the indefensible or are they conserving historical reality, however unpalatable that may be? To discuss these emotive questions and examine the broader cultural conflicts which lie behind them, Intelligence Squared are joining forces with Historic England and bringing together a stellar panel including historians David Olusoga and Peter Frankopan, the journalist and author Afua Hirsch and the cultural commentator Tiffany Jenkins.”
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Until Sunday 2 September 2018
EXHIBITION: THE SEA IS THE LIMIT (YORK ART GALLERY)
“Thought provoking works of art exploring the current and ongoing issues of migration, dispossession and national borders are brought together in this major new exhibition at York Art Gallery.”
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Wednesday 16 May 2018
TALK: HISTORIES FROM INSIDE THE CITY’S VICTORIAN ASYLUM (BISHOPSGATE INSTITUTE, LONDON)
“Caroline Bressey uncovers the stories of working class men and women who were admitted to the City of London asylum, exploring the ethnic diversity of the patients and their experiences of life in the city. This talk will explore stories from one of the spaces in which people lived together in Victorian and Edwardian London – the asylum. Taking patient records as a starting point, Caroline Bressey considers what these archives can tell us about the lives of working class people in late Victorian and Edwardian London, especially the ethnic diversity of the asylum’s patients and the city beyond its walls. This event is part of the ‘London Talks’ series which aims to share the stories of the people who have lived and worked in the city, bring to life the distinct characteristics and areas of the capital, and demonstrate the vibrancy and diversity of the many histories of London.”
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Thursday 17 May 2018
FILM: THANK YOU FOR THE RAIN (REGATHER WORKS, SHEFFIELD)
“In association with Sheffield Climate Alliance. Five years ago Kisilu, a Kenyan farmer, started to use his camera to capture the life of his family, his village and the damages of climate change. When a violent storm throws him and a Norwegian filmmaker together, we see him transform from father, to community leader, to activist on the global stage.”
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Thursday 17 May 2018
TALK: THE LAST POETS IN CONVERSATION (THE BRITISH LIBRARY, LONDON)
“The legendary collective of black poets and musicians talk about their story alongside writer Christine Otten, who turned it into the novel ‘Last Poets: Time Has Come.’ The Last Poets formed in New York in May 1968 against the backdrop of the black power movement and the recent assassinations of Martin Luther King, Robert F Kennedy and Malcolm X. Hailing from the ghettos of Detroit, the Bronx, Queens and Akron Ohio, they were inspired by the diverse music around them and began performing on street corners, mixing fierce poems with funky conga rhythms. They released their debut album in 1970 and are now acclaimed for their influence on the rap, hip hop and soul that followed and as a reference point for Public Enemy, Ice Cube, Ice-T, 2Pac, Common, Mos Def and Erykah Badu. Despite break ups and turbulent personal lives, the core reformed and are performing again.”
The Last Poets will perform live with special guests on Friday 18 May, click here to find out more.
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Friday 18 May 2018
TALK: BEN OKRI PRESENTS RISE LIKE LIONS (THE BRITISH LIBRARY, LONDON)
“Ben Okri presents Rise Like Lions: Poetry for the Many, a new collection for which he has selected 100 poems from around the world that celebrate (in the broadest sense) the many voices of politics, from polemics to meditations, from Shakespeare to grime. The event is followed by ‘Late at the Library: Superjam! 50 Years of Radical Voices’ featuring the Last Poets, Michael Horovitz and special guests. A limited number of combined tickets are available, or tickets may be purchased separately.”
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Thursday 24 May 2018
TALK: BEING MUSLIM IN EUROPE TODAY – BUILDING BRIDGES IN AN AGE OF UNCERTAINTY (SOAS, LONDON)
“Join Ambassador Akbar Ahmed as he discusses his new book, ‘Journey into Europe: Islam, Immigration, and Identity’. The fourth in a quartet of studies examining relations between the West and the Muslim world, ‘Journey into Europe’ explores Islam in Europe and the place of Islam in European history and civilization on the basis of fieldwork spanning the length and breadth of the continent. Ambassador Ahmed will be joined by Lord Bhiku Parekh and the event will be chaired by SOAS Pro-Director Professor Stephen Hopgood.”
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Thursday 24 May 2018
TALK: INSTITUTIONALISED WHITENESS, RACIAL MICROAGGRESSIONS AND BLACK BODIES OUT OF PLACE IN HIGHER EDUCATION (UNIVERSITY OF WESTMINSTER, LONDON)
“Speaker: Remi Joseph-Salisbury (Leeds Beckett University). On the morning of Friday 3rd February 2017, Femi Nylander – a Black Oxford alumnus – walked through the grounds of Oxford University’s Harris Manchester College. Later that morning a CCTV image of Femi was circulated to staff and students who were urged to ‘maintain vigilance’. ‘Post-racial’ ideology insists on framing such incidents as isolated aberrations bereft of wider structural and institutional context. In this lecture, I centralise the voices of student campaigns as sites of legitimate experiential knowledge in order to offer a counter-narrative. In so doing, I draw upon the theoretical concepts of ‘racial microaggressions’ and ‘bodies out of place’ as I argue that Femi’s experience cannot be understood in abstraction from structural white supremacy and the institutionalised whiteness that undergirds Higher Education. Remi Joseph-Salisbury is a Senior Lecturer in Education Studies at Leeds Beckett University, with research primary research interests in race and (anti-)racism. He is a trustee of the Racial Justice Network, and a steering group member of the Northern Police Monitoring Project. He is co-editor of ‘The Fire Now’, a forthcoming collection exploring anti-racism in times of explicit racial violence.”
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Until June 2018
FILMS: BLACK EUROPE ON FILM – EUROPE AND THE BLACK DIASPORA FILM FESTIVAL (BERNIE GRANT CENTRE, LONDON)
“Black Europe On Film – Europe and The Black Diaspora Film Festival is a programme of screenings curated by ‘Black History Studies’ in partnership with the ‘Bernie Grant Arts Centre’ celebrating the history and contributions of African people in Europe where their presence is significant but little known. The film festival will feature a selection of documentaries that document, examine and discuss stories from various parts of Europe and each session will end with an engaging post film discussion with audience members.”
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Please note that this event has no direct connection with “Black Europe Resources”.
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