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3rd art & science international exhibition

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Extinction Rebellion | London Fashion Week February 2019

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Moffat Takadiwa was born in 1983 in Karoi, Zimbabwe and currently lives and works in Harare.

He graduated with a BA Honors from Harare Polytechnic College, Zimbabwe in 2008.

Takadiwa creates large-scale sculptural pieces from ordinarily discarded materials, including everything from computer waste, aerosol cans and spray bottles, to toothbrushes and toothpaste tubes. He weaves together these small everyday objects to make impressive organic forms evocative of jewel-encrusted excess or a ritualistic kind of minimalism. The artist's choice of materials communicates his concern with issues around consumerism, inequality, post-colonialism and the environment.

Part of the post-independence generation of artists in Zimbabwe, Takadiwa has exhibited extensively across major institutions in Zimbabwe as well as internationally.

Recent solo presentations include Framed in Colonial Lenses, Raw Spot Gallery, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa (2018); Say Hello to English, Tyburn Gallery, London (2017); Foreign Objects, Tyburn Gallery, London, UK (2015); Foreign Bodies, Whatiftheworld, Cape Town, South Africa (2016); Local Foreign Products at Gallery Special Projects, FNB Joburg Art Fair, Johannesburg, South Africa (2015); Africa Not Reachable! at First Floor Gallery, Harare, Zimbabwe (2012).

Selected group exhibitions include Ex Africa - storie e identità di un'arte universale, Museo Civico Archeologico, Bologna, Italy (2019); KUBATANA: An Exhibition with Contemporary African Artists, Vestfossen Kunstlaboratorium, Oslo, Norway (2019); Material Insanity, Musée d'Art Contemporain Africain Al Maaden (MACAAL), Marrakech, Morocco (2019); Language is the Only Homeland, Nest, The Hague, Netherlands (2018); The Eye Sees Not Itself, Nicodim Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA (2018); Right at the Equator, Depart Foundation, Malibu, CA, USA (2018); On being alone and unbearable loneliness, Watou Art Festival, Belgium (2017); Chinafrika, Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst Leipzig, Germany (2017); De Nature en Sculpture, Villa Datris Foundation, L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, France (2017); Le jour qui vient, curated by Marie-Ann Yemsi, Galerie des Galeries, Galeries Lafayette, Paris (2017); Dear Europa..., Whatiftheworld, Cape Town (2016); When Tomorrow Comes, Wits Art Museum, Johannesburg and Michaelis Galleries, Cape Town (2016); Broken English,Tyburn Gallery, London (2015); UNcertain Terms, Whatiftheworld, Cape Town (2014); Warp & Woof, The Hole, New York, USA (2014); and National Gallery of Zimbabwe Annual Show, Harare, Zimbabwe (2014).

The artist's work forms part of international collections including Art Jameel, United Arab Emirates; Foundation de 11 Lijnen, Belgium; Shanti Art Collection; Villa Datris Foundation, France; Southern African Foundation for Contemporary Art (SAFFCA), France and South Africa; and Fondazione Golinelli, Italy.

2008

BA Honors Fine Art, Harare Polytechnic College, Zimbabwe.

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2018

Framed in Colonial Lenses, Raw Spot Gallery, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa.

2017

Say Hello to English, Tyburn Gallery, London, UK.

2016

Across Borders, Whatiftheworld, Cape Town, South Africa.

2015

Foreign Objects, Tyburn Gallery, London, UK.

Local Foreign Products, Gallery Special Projects, FNB Joburg Art Fair, Johannesburg, South Africa.

2012

Africa Not Reachable! First Floor Gallery, Harare, Zimbabwe.

Selected Group Exhibitions

2019

Ex Africa - storie e identit à di un'arte universale, Museo Civico Archeologico, Bologna, Italy.

KUBATANA: An Exhibition with Contemporary African Artists, Vestfossen Kunstlaboratorium, Oslo, Norway.

Material Insanity, Museum of African Contemporary Art Al Maaden (MACAAL), Marrakech, Morocco.

2018

Language is the Only Homeland, Nest, The Hague, Netherlands.

The Eye Sees Not Itself, Nicodim Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA.

Right at the Equator, Depart Foundation, Malibu, CA, USA.

2017

On being alone and unbearable loneliness, Watou Art Festival, Belgium.

Chinafrika Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst Leipzig, Germany.

Chinafrika Kunstfest Weimar, Germany.

De Nature en Sculpture, Villa Datris Foundation, L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, France.

Le jour qui vient, curated by Marie-Ann Yemsi, Galerie des Galeries, Galeries Lafayette, Paris, France.

Collector's Stage, curated by Enin Supriyanto, Art Stage Singapore, Singapore.

2016

Dear Europa..., Whatiftheworld, Cape Town, South Africa.

When Tomorrow Comes, Wits Art Museum, Johannesburg, South Africa, and Michaelis Galleries, Cape Town, South Africa.

2015

Broken English, Tyburn Gallery, London, UK.

Foreign Bodies , Whatiftheworld, Cape Town, South Africa.

2014

Uncertain Terms, Whatiftheworld Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa.

SCINTILLA: An Alchemy Show, Commune 1, Cape Town, South Africa.

Project, 1:54 2nd edition African Art Fair London. UK.

BATIK d'AFRIQUE, Ethan Cohen Gallery, New York, USA.

Warp & Woof, The Hole, New York, USA.

Meet the artist project, Chinembiri studio, Harare, Zimbabwe.

2013

Project 1:54, African Art Fair London, UK.

Good News exhibition, New University, Lisbon, Portugal.

No Limits, HIFA, Harare, Zimbabwe.

Chiso, First Floor Gallery, Harare, Zimbabwe.

2012

Harare Haarare!, First Floor Gallery, Harare, Zimbabwe.

Inexactly This, Kunstvlaai Festival of Independence, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Wars/Karas, Octopus Projects, Riga, Latvia.

Jo'burg Fringe, Johannesburg, South Africa.

A Tale of Two Cities, National Gallery, Harare, Zimbabwe.

Family, Tradition and Religion, Gallery Delta, Zimbabwe.

2011

Still Life Exhibition, Delta Gallery, Zimbabwe.

Harare beyond Words, Gallery H, Bangkok, Thailand.

Mbare Kutapira, First Floor Gallery, Chinembiri Studios, Harare, Zimbabwe.

Harare Paris, Pavé d'Orsay, Paris, France.

Harare International Festival of Art Exhibition, National Gallery, Zimbabwe.

Rangu Izwi, First Floor Gallery, Harare, Zimbabwe.

Austral><Affric, First Floor Gallery, The Basement, Harare, Zimbabwe.

2010

First Steps, First Floor Gallery, Harare, Zimbabwe.

Facet Zimbabwe Now, Delta Gallery, Zimbabwe.

Avignon University, Avignon, France.

Live and Direct, National Gallery, Harare, Zimbabwe.

Young Artist Exhibition, Gallery Delta, Harare, Zimbabwe.

2009

Peace through Unity in Diversity, Gallery Delta, Harare, Zimbabwe.

Walls, Berlin Wall, Gallery Delta, Harare, Zimbabwe.

2008

Cottco, National Gallery, Harare, Zimbabwe.

Enriching Woman, Gallery Delta, Harare, Zimbabwe.

2007

Young Artist Exhibition, Gallery Delta, Harare, Zimbabwe.

2011

Hecker, Judith (ed.), Impressions from South Africa, 1965 to Now: Prints from the Museum of Modern Art, Museum Of Modern Art, NYC, 2011.

2018

RAW Residency of Artists and Writers, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa.

2017

The Gathering, Kenya.

2019

Schwendener, Martha, At the Armory Show, Solo Exhibitions and Colossal Displays, nytimes.com, 6 March 2019.

2017

Obuobi, Sharon, In Studio with Moffat Takadiwa, medium.com, 14 June 2017.

---, contemporaryand.com, 27 February 2017.

Schulz, Anke, Moffat Takadiwa: Exploring Zimbabwe's Colonial Past Through Language, artversed.com, 8 April 2017.

10 Outstanding Solo Exhibitions to Experience in London in April, huffingtonpost.com, 7 April 2017.

Mba, Adora, Moffat Takadiwa: the shy guy whose art speaks volumes, trueafrica.co, 31 March 2017.

Wrathall, Claire, Artists in Focus: Moffat Takadiwa, Christie's Magazine, April 2017 Issue, pp. 44-45.

Gilhooly, Emma, Moffat Takadiwa: The Zimbabwe artist protests against the colonial education system with his solo show, Say Hello To English, , March 2017.

Enwonwu, Oliver, In Conversation With Moffat Takadiwa, omenkaonline.com, 13 February 2017.

Ojo, Tobi, 10 African Artists to Keep on Your Radar, , 30 January 2017.

2016

Twigg, Melissa, Can contemporary art help mend the relationship between China and Africa? scmp.com, 1st July 2016.

Walton, Millie, Inner sanctum, a magazine, February - April 2016.

2015

Brination, Irene, Tales of a Spiritual Garbage Man: Spotlight on Moffat Takadiwa, irenebrination.typepad.com, 14th October 2015.

Glyn-Jones, Gordon, ART ALERT: 5 Southern African art destinations this week, thesouthafrican.com, 04th November 2015.

Hegert, Natalie, Citing Decolonial Theory, Moffat Takadiwa Transforms Debris into Art, artslant.com, November 2015.

--, Dalla spazzatura alla scultura, LaStampa.it, 20th November 2015.

--, Artist Moffat Takadiwa Transforms Found Consumer Waste into Intricate Sculptural Forms, junk-culture.com, 21 October 2015.

2014

2013

2011

2018

Ticha Muvhuti, Barnabas, Takadiwa's mission is to change the world through his unique art, businesslive.com, 4 October 2018

2012

Award of Attendance, Zimbabwe Olympic Committee, Harare, Zimbabwe.

2010

Award of Merit, Peace Through Unity Exhibition, Gallery Delta, Harare, Zimbabwe.

Special Mention Prize, Facet Zimbabwe Now Exhibition, Delta Gallery, Zimbabwe.

2009

2nd Prize Walls, Special Mentions, Peace Through Unity Exhibition Delta, Harare, Zimbabwe.

2008

2016Award of Merit, Cottco Exhibition and Prize, National Gallery of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe.

Special Prize, Enriching Woman, Gallery Delta, Harare, Zimbabwe.

Art Jameel, United Arab Emirates.

Foundation de 11 Lijnen, Oudenburg, Belgium.

Shanti Art Collection.

Southern African Foundation for Contemporary Art (SAFFCA), France and South Africa.

Villa Datris Foundation, France.

Fondazione Golinelli, Italy.

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Moffat Takadiwa was born in 1983 in Karoi, Zimbabwe and currently lives and works in Harare. He graduated with a BA Honors from Harare Polytechnic College, Zimbabwe in 2008. Takadiwa creates large-scale sculptural pieces from ordinarily discarded materials, including everything from computer waste, aerosol cans and spray bottles, to toothbrushes and toothpaste tubes.

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The Survival Architect assessing wildfire risk - a series of performance stills that address the increase the risk of wildfires

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In 2020, we released our report Agriculture and climate change, which identified key actions the agricultural industry could take to support decarbonization. For this report, our research has focused on how decarbonization measures have evolved, as well as on the key barriers to their adoption and the actions industry players and investors can take to support their uptake. At the same time, conversations about sustainable transitions have increasingly focused on agriculture's effects on nature and society beyond climate change. For example, agricultural land covers half of all habitable land and is responsible for 70 percent of freshwater withdrawals. In addition, food systems are the primary driver of biodiversity loss around the world, and these systems have growing effects on biosphere integrity, human health, and food access. While climate change remains the focus of this report, decarbonization and the actions to achieve it cannot be considered separately from their broader impacts on nature and society. Trade-offs and other benefits associated with decarbonization actions are highlighted throughout the report.

Achieving a 1.5° pathway will require actions that extend beyond the farm throughout the value chain. Chief among these actions are reducing food loss and waste, adopting dietary shifts, and adapting how we use arable land, all of which are critical to decarbonization and will help the industry meet global food needs while maintaining the livelihoods of farmers (Exhibit 1).

Tackling food waste. Approximately 30 percent of the world's food is lost or wasted every year. Food loss and waste not only contribute an estimated 8 to 10 percent of global anthropogenic emissions but also drive food insecurity and overproduction, the latter of which contributes in turn to nature degradation. It is estimated that food waste could be reduced by approximately 23 percent by 2050, which would account for approximately 0.7 metric gigatons (Gt) of CO₂ equivalent (CO₂e). To achieve these reductions, we will need to better connect supply chains, improve preservation, adapt purchasing habits, and make more productive use of food loss or waste, creating opportunities for industrials across the value chain.

Shifting what we eat. Dietary shifts are already opening new markets and creating value for farmers and industrials. Producers and consumers can avoid releasing a substantial amount of emissions by turning to alternative protein sources, including plant-based products and precision-fermented and cellular products that are nearly identical to animal protein products. For example, classic plant-based options emit 12 percent of the total greenhouse gases (GHG) emitted by cattle and have a lesser ratio of methane per kilogram of product. Dietary shifts away from animal proteins could save nearly 640 million hectares of land, which could in turn be reforested or be a locus for other nature-based solutions. Of course, in the case of alternative protein sources, trade-offs, including human health, food access, and farmer equity, are especially important and must be adequately considered as part of any transition.

Addressing land use with nature-based solutions. Agricultural land covers approximately 4.9 billion hectares, or 38 percent of the world's terrestrial area, and is estimated to account for approximately 80 percent of global land-use change as land is cleared or converted for cropland, feed production, or grazing land. Given this enormous land-use footprint, nature-based solutions, including conservation and restoration solutions, have the potential to abate 6.7 GtCO₂e in 2050-approximately 80 percent of the total abatement potential. The largest levers for achieving this potential concern improved forestry practices, especially forest restoration. Notably, adoption of many nature-based solutions will likely require increased land-use intensification to meet global food demand and adequate incentives for farmers to limit future land conversion.

Changing how we farm, the focus of this report, is critical to a successful transition. Building on our previous work, we have defined 28 measures that can support decarbonization on the farm while creating potential value for the industry and farmers (Exhibit 2). Together, these measures have an annual emissions-reduction of approximately 2.2 GtCO ₂. Many of these measures can be implemented at little to no cost to the farmer and have benefits beyond emissions reductions, including yield and biodiversity uplift.

Although a 1.5˚ pathway exists and can create value for farmers and the broader industry, meaningful barriers are preventing adoption of decarbonization solutions at scale. Farmers are central to the sustainability transition, but they do not yet have sufficient incentives to adopt new methods and technologies. Emissions tracing and other actions require new, innovative solutions to facilitate decarbonization. And there is much room to grow in helping farmers overcome challenges in scaling their operations and maintaining profitability.

The findings in this report can guide food and agriculture organizations as they transition to increased sustainability. Each intervention should be tailored to its specific context, but broadly speaking, change requires the following:

financial incentives to spur farmer action, whether through carbon markets, green premiums, subsidies, rebates, or other green-financing mechanisms

ecosystem collaboration and improved tracking and traceability to bring solutions to market and support monetization of on-farm practice changes and purchaser decision making

research and investment to bend the cost curve to reduce adoption costs of existing solutions and support the development and scale-up of new technologies

The food and agriculture value chain has a chance to create a more sustainable ecosystem that feeds a growing planet while maintaining the livelihoods of farmers. With tailored and concentrated action, industry players, policy makers, and investors can accelerate the path to this future while enabling their own growth.

Although the path to achieving 1.5˚C will not be straightforward, it can create real business value for farmers and players throughout the value chain, with additional environmental benefits beyond reducing climate change. Action will be required beyond the farm, but there is a real opportunity to drive on-farm decarbonization while capturing business value. A more sustainable future for agriculture that feeds a growing planet while maintaining the livelihoods of farmers is feasible. And industry players, policy makers, and investors can accelerate the path to the future while enabling their own growth.

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The agricultural transition: Building a sustainable future

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Sustainable farming is necessary for decarbonization. But to get the world to net-zero, the agriculture sector must take action along the entire value chain.

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The art world has overlooked its own footprint. As the industry looks ahead to the new year, it has reached a point of collective action.

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To celebrate Earth Day, we showcase eight contemporary artists using their work to advance environmental issues

Ghost Forest, 2021. Maya Lin (American, b. 1959). Courtesy Maya Lin and Madison Square Park Conservancy. Photograph by Maya Lin Studio

'I believe artists are better off working with whatever their environment throws up'

'Life on Earth is about co-existence - among people, non-human animals, ecosystems, and the environment... The fact is, we're in it together. That's why we all have to take the climate emergency seriously'

Andreas Gursky (b 1955). Bangkok I, 2011. Pigment print, in artist's frame. 120 x 93 in (304.8 x 236.2 cm). Sold for $156,250 on 14 May at Christie's in New York

'The future is fragile. Handle with care'

Coal Mine #1, North Rhine, Westphalia, Germany, 2015. © Edward Burtynsky, Courtsey Flowers Gallery, London / Nicholas Metivier Gallery, Toronto

Related auctions & events

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Eight leading artists championing sustainability | Christie's

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To celebrate Earth Day, we showcase eight contemporary artists using their work to advance environmental issues

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On Islamic Art Traditions & the Environmental Arts Movement When we, in the United States, think about environmental art or art as environmental activism, National Geographic-style photographs …

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A research-led teaching practice and interior/urban design group. Founded in 2005, our interests concern the inevitability of the interior in all its manifestations and its expression through architecture. The blog records our current activities from the interstitial to residential, temporary and large-scale, exhibitions, events and competition submissions which range from private intimate spaces to masterplan proposals for urban regeneration.

Layton Reid

Layton is an architect designer and educator, he is the Founder & Director of Desi(tect)ure, a research-based practice developing propositions which consider the future of polyculture and sustainable cities and the use of emerging materials and processes. The work focuses on the potential for a creative dichotomy between societal change and commercial imperatives in a time of climate change. Desi(tect)ures high density and vertical city projects work have
featured in exhibitions, publications, and at conferences internationally.

Layton Reid is a champion of access and diversity in architectural education and the

liberation of the curriculum through internationalisation and the enfranchisement of the
students' authentic contemporary experience of phenomena, and the future scenarios of the
unasked question.

Currently at The University of West London developing a new suite of

innovative architecture courses and previously held the post of Associate Dean of
Architecture at Ravensbourne University London where he created the successful School of
Architecture, Interior Design Environment Architecture and Urban Landscape.

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A research-led teaching practice and interior/urban design group. Founded in 2005, our interests concern the inevitability of the interior in all its manifestations and its expression through architecture. The blog records our current activities from the interstitial to residential, temporary and large-scale, exhibitions, events and competition submissions which range from private intimate spaces to masterplan proposals for urban regeneration.

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The Earthshot Prize is the most prestigious global environment prize in history, designed to incentivise change and help repair our planet over the next ten years.

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Material Design and research whilst offering trend research, textile design, product design and installation design services.

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Green Africa Youth Organization - Service to Nature

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Who we are - Green Africa Youth Organization

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10+ Years of Impact ABOUT US Building a greener future together Founded in 2014 to foster a human desire to follow fundamental natural laws and adopt a lifestyle that is in harmony with the environment. We envision a world in which people live in harmony with the various natural systems on which they rely, with

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Hurricane Beryl: Record-breaking sign of warming world

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Beryl is the earliest category five Atlantic hurricane on record, fuelled by exceptional sea warmth.

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Hurricane Beryl’s natural gifts for a batty botanist

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How the destruction of the Hurricane Beryl aftermath made one artist and writer see a new beauty in a storm-damaged Cozumel.

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MYCL uses palm oil waste to grow a low-carbon, sustainable leather alternative and, at the same time incentivises farmers to stop burning their crop waste.

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Restor | Global hub for nature restoration and conservation

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Become a nature restoration champion with Restor. Showcase and monitor your projects, find funding and connect with the community. Join Restor for free!

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Projects that explore climate emergency

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4 artworks that capture the climate emergency | Tate

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However, impacts in one place can have knock-on effects for all regions. For instance, people being displaced from one area could lead to mass migrations, and crop failures linked to extreme weather could raise global food prices.

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What is climate change? A really simple guide

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World temperatures are rising because of human activity, threatening every aspect of human life.

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he Trinidad-born British designer and artist Althea McNish 's bold textile prints rescued 1950s Britain from postwar gloom, ushering in the upbeat 60s with outsize flowers in a humid palette. Her early work with forward-thinking fabric producers such as Liberty, Ascher Ltd and Hull Traders brought Caribbean heat into British living rooms, while Christian Dior and Balenciaga used her pop-bright prints on floaty silk dresses.

"She layered two unique identities," says Rose Sinclair, the co-curator of Colour Is Mine, a long-overdue, posthumous survey of McNish's 70-year career. "In terms of the Black influence on British culture, her textiles say it loud and clear."

Sign up to our Inside Saturday newsletter for an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the making of the magazine's biggest features, as well as a curated list of our weekly highlights.

A photo of McNish from 1966 suggests her reach. She's in her studio, behind a desk laden with pots and brushes, while hectic mood boards cover the walls. Shot from below with her head turned, mid-conversation, it is an empowering image that casts her as a busy career woman and an aspirational figure for readers of the publication that commissioned it: the Daily Mail. The portrait ran with a story on McNish's contribution to that year's Ideal Home Show, a "bachelor girl's room" for the metropolitan twentysomethings busily dismantling traditional female roles.

At the other end of the scale, McNish clothed the Queen for her official visit to Trinidad and Tobago that February. As Sinclair puts it: "She's a rare Black woman within international textile history. She broke boundaries." McNish had a far steeper hill to climb than her peers. "She was decorating the domestic space, up and down the country, at a time when the frame for a lot of Black people was: 'You should go back home,'" the curator says. "She changed the spaces that people inhabited."

The forthcoming retrospective is set to reveal a life full of luminous firsts. McNish originally came to Britain in her late 20s to undertake an architecture degree, which she gave up in favour of printmaking. She completed her studies at the Royal College, although Sinclair credits evening classes with the pioneering pop artist Eduardo Paolozzi for first introducing McNish to textiles' potential. Her technical prowess was unusual, creating multilayered prints whose complexity is nigh-on impossible to imitate. "When you've got a piece that has 17 screens and colours in it, who's going to copy it?" asks Sinclair.

It was what McNish described as her "tropical eye" that caught the attention of her early champion, Arthur Stewart-Liberty. When a designer's expected career path meant learning the ropes in someone else's studio, Liberty took the rare step of commissioning exclusive designs from her as soon as she graduated in 1957. Transforming, as McNish once said, "the flowers of the English countryside [with] tropical flamboyance", her iconic prints explode with brushy depictions of giant blooms and free-floating foliage. The colours sizzle and ping: rose red against violet, tangerine over deep pink, lime with the perfect turquoise of a still, warm sea. The designer summed up her approach with a simple, uncompromising affirmation: "I'm a citizen of the world and I am multicultural. [...] My textiles are the statement of my being."

Colour field: works by Althea McNish

Althea McNish's Golden Harvest, c1960s.

Golden Harvest, designed for Hull Traders, c1960s
This marks an important moment in the development of McNish's "tropical eye". The colourway recalls the lush blue Caribbean ocean, but the print's harvest grew in England. She was a student picnicking in an Essex wheat field when she had the idea for it.

Orina Danasco, 1960 (main picture)
This design shows McNish pushing her organic forms into abstraction, and is unusual in its direct use of black. The designer once said: "Grey is a colour I would never use [...] Black ... has the power in it to do what I want."

Althea McNish in her studio in 1966. Photograph: Hodder/ANL/Shutterstock

Ideal Home Exhibition, 1966
This portrait shows McNish in her studio preparing for the exhibition, where she exhibited her "bachelor girl's room". Sinclair says: "It was to be designed for the 26-year-old girl about town, [someone] not too flash with money. It is the textiles that make the statement."

Student sketchbook, 1954. Photograph: Nicola Tree/N15 Archive/The Althea McNish Collection

Student sketchbook, 1954
McNish's sketchbooks show the breadth of her influences. Kew Gardens was a favourite haunt, but so too was the British Museum, where she studied ancient cultures. As Sinclair says: "Her attitude echoed Trinidad itself and its diversity of cultures. She recognised her own mixed cultural heritage."
Althea McNish: Colour Is Mine is at the William Morris Gallery, London, from 2 April until 11 September.

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'She broke boundaries': how textile artist Althea McNish made Britain bloom

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he Trinidad-born British designer and artist Althea McNish 's bold textile prints rescued 1950s Britain from postwar gloom, ushering in the upbeat 60s with outsize flowers in a humid palette. Her early work with forward-thinking fabric producers such as Liberty, Ascher Ltd and Hull Traders brought Caribbean heat into British living rooms, while Christian Dior and Balenciaga used her pop-bright prints on floaty silk dresses.

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Balvinder Sopal & Julian Couple's Choice to Sapphire by Ed Sheeran & Arijit Singh✨ BBC Strictly 2025

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Discover Atelier Ashish Shah - Where luxury meets artistry. Explore handcrafted furniture, lighting, and bespoke designs inspired by Indian art forms. Shop now!

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Claudette Johnson: ‘Giving Space to the Presence of a Black Woman’ | Tate

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Yamamoto Keiko Rochaix is a contemporary art gallery in Spitalfields, East London, opened in January 2017.

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One of the largest contemporary art galleries in the UK, presenting free exhibitions, special events, and family activities.

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Conceived by Rei Kawakubo and Adrian Joffe, Dover Street Market is a place for creators from various fields to gather, encounter and collide with each other in a burgeoning atmosphere of beautiful chaos. The original Dover Street Market first opened in London, Mayfair in September 2004.

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A new exhibition at the Völklingen Ironworks is challenging stereotypes and exploring Africa's cultural history, showcasing works by 26 artists from across the continent and its global diaspora.

A new exhibition at the Völklingen Ironworks is challenging stereotypes and exploring Africa's cultural history, showcasing works by 26 artists from across the continent and its global diaspora.

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Video. New exhibition in Germany challenges stereotypes of Africa through art

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Video. A new exhibition at the Völklingen Ironworks is challenging stereotypes and exploring Africa's cultural history, showcasing works by 26 artists from across the continent and its global diaspora.

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Meet our global network of changemakers - Prince Claus Fund Awardees.

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Rebecca Horn: Finger Gloves, 1972, performance.Achim Thode/Courtesy Tate, London

These five artworks by disabled artists show that impairment has served as a creative force throughout art history. Before today's disability arts movement, lived experiences of disability prompted countless artists to explore interdependence, reimagine existing tools to suit their needs, and emphasize the importance of mechanisms for well-being.

Rebecca Horn: Finger Gloves (1972)

Before the melancholy machinic wonder of Tim Hawkinson's figurative sculptures, before Stelarc's half-fantastical, half-grim artificial body extensions of the 1980s, before so many artists made endless variations on partly useful, partly poetic objects that play with the prosthetic, Rebecca Horn made Finger Gloves (1972): two implements, like rakes fitted for hands, seem to stretch their fabric-covered metal fingers more than three feet in length. In Horn's video performance from 1974, she wears the gloves and walks up and down the middle of an empty room in a slow and careful line, her arms outstretched from her sides. The gloves protract her reach, allowing her augmented body to graze both walls, completely occupying or consuming the cube with an eerie touch.

Several years earlier, in 1968, while in school at the University of Fine Arts in Hamburg, Horn developed lung disease from inhaling fiberglass. She had to withdraw from her studies and spend a year isolated in a sanatorium, where she was denied visitors. Both her parents passed away during her stay. Horn was limited to drawing during her isolation period, but her sculptural wearables from that point on bloom with references to clinical gear, realized with fanciful or sinister associations: harnesses and tubes meet elegant swaths of fabric, and "gloves" are fashioned to both threaten and protect. As in the works of Lygia Clark, Horn's wearable gear displays or hides the body with a tender kind of armor.

In a 2006 essay titled "A Leg to Stand On: Prosthetics, Metaphor, and Materiality," disability scholar Vivian Sobchack despaired of the prosthesis showing up in literature and art as mere metaphor: deriving pure formalism from replacement parts through chic and imprecise body-plus-machine assemblages, with this thing vaguely subbing for that. Historian Katherine Ott similarly insisted on "keeping prostheses attached to people"-or connected to concrete, everyday forms of access. In Horn's oeuvre, access is prismatic, sometimes suggesting hardy, pragmatic use, and sometimes evoking an unresolved mix of constraint and possibility. Finger Gloves marks the achievement that eludes so many: the prosthesis that's hard to pin down and hard to forget, with simplicity and gravitas and strangeness to spare.

-Sara Hendren

Ibrahim Nubani: Untitled (2006)

Ibrahim Nubani: Untitled, 2006, oil on paper mounted on wood, 19¾ by 27½ inches. Courtesy Gallery One, Ramallah

Ibrahim Nubani was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1988. His art has since been read through the prism of psychic fragmentation, his condition compounded by the internal struggle of a Palestinian living in Israel. One way of interpreting the thick black bars forming the top layer of a mazelike geometry in Nubani's painting Untitled (2006), for example, is that they communicate a prisonlike understanding of both the Israeli occupation and the mind.

Yet the work of disabled artists is not always an index of symptoms, the sedimentation of illness into aesthetic form, or an unmediated reflection of the artist's corporeality. The formal simplicity of Untitled-which otherwise involves flat blocks of color and doubled line segments perhaps suggesting two figures-belies a more complicated set of decisions behind the labyrinth. Nubani's palette of red, green, black, and white, the colors of the Palestinian flag, cleverly lends the work a political tinge: in 1967, Israel banned the use of the colors of Palestine in all artistic and representational mediums. While the ban was lifted in 1993, its specter routinely resurfaces, most recently via efforts to criminalize the presence of the Palestinian flag in Israel. Nubani's deployment of the colors, albeit with an imprecise
green and additions of gray and yellow, plays coy with the prohibition.

Still, these three types of imprisonment-occupation, illness, and diagnosis-may not be possible to separate. In How to Go Mad Without Losing Your Mind (2021), a central text in the burgeoning field of Black disability studies, scholar La Marr Jurelle Bruce proclaims that madness is "both place and process," as in the phrase " go mad." For Bruce, this argument is anchored in a discussion of the Middle Passage as a "deranged" project that "framed black people as always already wild," but more broadly we might consider madness as a type of relation that entangles bodies well before they are objectified and commodified through diagnosis. The social dimension of this relation can be inferred from Untitled, where the number of possible figures as well as the limits and gestures of their bodies are left ambiguous, entangled. Even as viewers might attempt to parse these relations, Untitled suggests that diagnosis itself, the labeling of conditions, can be a form of entrapment.

-Jasbir K. Puar

Darrel Ellis: Untitled (ca. 1992)

Darrel Ellis: Untitled (Reclining Self-Portrait), ca. 1992, charcoal on paper, 22½ by 30 inches.©Darrel Ellis Estate/Courtesy CANDICE MADEY, New York

Rendered in charcoal, a reclining figure rests one hand on his stomach and reaches the other over his head. The bearded man's eyes are closed, his surroundings sketchy. This untitled self-portrait by Darrel Ellis (1952-1992) was one of the last he made in his too-short career, painted the year he died from AIDS-related complications. Many of his portraits were of himself and his family members, particularly his father, a photographer, who was killed by police two months before Ellis was born. Ellis would go on not just to depict his father, but also to re-create his photographs.

Yet for all this specificity, Ellis also made intentional gestures of opacity, layering materials including ink, acrylic, gouache, and charcoal in ways that sometimes shielded his subjects. In several portraits of his mother, a rectangle covers her eyes; in a print, one figure in a kissing couple has her face similarly covered. Even when the figures are recognizable, they are often warped by Ellis's unconventional use of the photographic enlarger: he created uneven sculptural surfaces for the projections and then photographed the distorted images. These strategies indicate the artist's interest in toying with legibility, especially as imposed on and demanded from marginalized artists. "People often tell me," he said in an interview with scholar David Hirsch, "my work doesn't really look like it's done by a Black person."

Ellis's self-portraits further illuminate his explorations of how one's identity seems to shift depending on who's looking: some paintings were modeled on photos that Allen Frame, Peter Hujar, and Robert Mapplethorpe took of him. This 1992 drawing is more inviting of, or ambivalent toward, the viewer's gaze, depicting the artist in a candid and vulnerable pose, free of obfuscation. Ellis lies on what looks like a couch, likely in the Greenpoint apartment where he spent his last years. While this timing may lead to a funerary interpretation, bolstered by the black-and-white palette, closed eyes, and rough linework, I choose to see a depiction not of death but rest. The drawing reads as a turn inward, with what resembles a closed door in the distance; the artist negotiates his own body privately, at a time when he was acutely aware of, but not public about, his diagnosis. After a life of so much looking, perhaps Ellis was claiming the importance of repose.

-danilo machado

Alice Rahon: La balada para Frida Kahlo (The Ballad for Frida Kahlo), 1955-56

Alice Rahon: The Ballad for Frida Kahlo, 1955-56, oil on canvas, 47¼ by 70 inches.Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City/Image courtesy Schalkwijk/Art Resource, New York;

At first glance, this painting, nearly six feet wide, seems to depict a twinkling cityscape. But up close, you'll find that many of the building-like shapes are actually crowds of creatures forming a parade that culminates at a Ferris wheel. The details can be difficult to see, as Rahon scratched some of them into wet paint, perhaps using the "wrong" end of her brush, to create white outlines. But once you catch glimpses of the jubilant giraffes, people in hats, and kite-flying animals, some background helps decode them, perhaps allowing the work to be seen, in part, as a Surrealist portrait of crip friendship painted in a secret cipher. One disabled artist (Alice Rahon) painted it for another (Frida Kahlo) the year after the latter died. Kahlo had nicknamed Rahon "giraffe" for her height and her brown eyes. At the bottom of the canvas, Rahon scratched frida aux yeux d'hirondelle, or "Frida with the eyes of a swallow," referring in turn to Frida's dark eyes. The canvas is overwhelmingly a rich blue, an homage to La Casa Azul, Kahlo's home in Mexico City.

This shared symbology is a testament to the pair's intimate friendship, which we know, from both artists' writings, revolved in part around their mutual experience of being disabled and women and artists in Mexico City. (After relocating there from Paris during WWII with Kahlo's encouragement, Rahon switched her focus from poetry to painting.) It also demonstrates that disabled people have found and supported one another throughout time in countless ways and contexts. Whatever the two may have discussed about disability in private, it was remarkable to find evidence of their exchanges displayed so prominently at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, as this piece was last year in "Surrealism Beyond Borders." As artist Park McArthur once put it to me, these moments are "affirmation[s] that our people are everywhere."

I'm left wondering if there are other aspects of the painting that might be legible to Rahon and Kahlo alone, that will remain forever coded. And I'm dying to know what their conversations were like, even as part of me feels that, to some degree, I already know.

-Emily Watlington

David Hockney: Tennis (1989)

David Hockney: Tennis, 1989, Xerox, collage, construction paper, and felt marker on paper, transmitted by fax, 102 by 168 inches overall.© David Hockney/Courtesy David Hockney Foundation, Los Angeles

In his 40s, after finishing his iconic pastel swimming pool paintings, David Hockney noticed that he was starting to lose his hearing. First, he realized he was struggling to understand the voices of the women enrolled in a seminar he was teaching in San Francisco. Then, he remembered his dad had begun to go deaf at around the same age. As his deafness progressed, he started to find the fax machine more useful than the telephone. His messages to his friends became increasingly playful, and eventually he was faxing an entire museum exhibition.

The earliest works he made employing the machine, begun in 1988, are line drawings in black and white. Any shade of gray was achieved through meticulous hatching or scanning a texture that the machine interpreted as pixelated noise. Many faxes got thrown away, but those in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York are mostly portraits and still lifes: fruits in baskets, vases on tables. They manage to feel distinctly Hockney even without his signature color palette.

Hockney has said more than once that his deafness has made him rely more than others on vision when perceiving things in space-he avoids crowded environments, where it's hard for him to pick out a voice from other noises-and this heightened attunement shows in his work. It's clearly what prompted him to use the common fax machine in a new and intriguing way. In 1989, he stopped abiding by the standard paper size limitations. Instead, to make Tennis, an abstract composition with a central netlike form flanked by tubular, figurative-looking shapes, he sent 144 faxes to a curator at Salts Mill in Saltaire, West Yorkshire, with instructions that they be arranged into an image of monumental scale. Time and again, he turned the tool's constraints into creative prompts.

-Emily Watlington

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Sara Hendren,danilo machado,Jasbir K. Puar,Emily Watlington

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Impairment as Impetus: Five Historic Works Spurred by Disability

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These five artworks by disabled artists show that impairment has served as a creative force throughout art history. Before today's disability arts movement, lived experiences of disability prompted countless artists to explore interdependence, reimagine existing tools to suit their needs, and emphasize the importance of mechanisms for well-being.

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Jasleen Kaur, born in Glasgow in 1986, lives and works in London.

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Artist Jeannette Ehlers: Manifesting Black Resistance | Louisiana Channel

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Jenin's Freedom Theatre: Voice of Resistance

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Despite Israeli incursions into Jenin, Mahmoud and his young actors are staging a play they hope to perform abroad.

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Joseph Awuah-Darko - Janet Rady Fine Art

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An interdisciplinary artist, Awuah-Darko uses diverse mediums to process historic and autobiographical narratives. From the artist’s expansive Kente textile works, melding his Asante heritage with Afrofuturism, to his series of oil stick paintings, charting his moods over a day’s span, Awuah-Darko’s practice is always grappling with the tensions between interior experience and external expression.

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Joshua Idehen - Mum Does The Washing OFFICIAL VIDEO

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An important part of the project has been finding different ways to disseminate these artefacts and unlock the histories of impunity contained within. Alongside the digital display, the public is invited to take ownership of the Marcos Collection through Augmented Reality, placing these spectral objects in their own domestic spaces and imagining possibilities of restitution that remain elusive in the present day.

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The ‘Best New Artist’ was the star of the Brit Awards 2022.

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Immediately upon seeing Ghanaian artist Prince Gyasi’s photo prints, one is struck by the soulful and vibrant colors. Colors are an essential element in Gyasi’s work.

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For Pride 2024 we’re exploring what colour means to four queer artists living and working in London today.

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Nobel peace prize laureate Maria Ressa and Urvashi Aneja explore how current AI developments impact the Global South.

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AI art: The end of creativity or the start of a new movement?

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Artificial intelligence is being used to generate paintings, images and even sculptures, with some selling for thousands of dollars. Do we need to reframe our definition of art?

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Food, photography and social justice – Asma Khan and Hassan Akkad | Human Rights | Al Jazeera

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We use cookies and other tracking technologies to deliver and personalize content and ads, enable features, measure site performance, and enable social media sharing. You can choose to customize your preferences.Learn more about our Cookie Policy.

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Alejandro Aravena works inside paradoxes, seeing space and flexibility in public housing, clarity in economic scarcity, and the keys to rebuilding in the causes of natural disasters. He

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News Story

Barkcloth is a type of natural cloth made by stripping, soaking, and beating or weaving lengths of the inner bark from trees such as paper mulberry, ficus, and elm.

It is produced in countries located along a tropical 'barkcloth belt'. This includes the Pacific Islands, Japan, Taiwan, Island Southeast Asia, India, East, Central and West Africa, tropical South and Central America, and the Caribbean.

The changing use of barkcloth can be attributed to the introduction of cotton fabrics, changing lifestyles, and the loss of trees needed for production. Today barkcloth is still produced in some countries in smaller quantities but remains integral to many aspects of life.

How is it made?

Barkcloth is produced by cleaning bark stripped from its outer layer and boiling or steaming it. It is then beaten over a log or hard surface for several hours with heavy beaters made from wood, horn, stone, bone, or shell. This causes the fibres to soften, stretch and fuse together.

Barkcloth is predominately a type of non-woven cloth. The exception is Ainu barkcloth from Japan, which is woven rather than beaten.

The dried cloth is often decorated. It has a variety of uses across the world including for masks, clothing, bedding, mats, tablecloths or souvenirs for tourists.

Image gallery

The global barkcloth belt

Credit: Adapted from 'World map blank' by San Jose (2006), based on Generic Mapping Tools, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Africa

There were once large centres of barkcloth production in western, central, and eastern Africa. This included the Congo Basin in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Malawi, and Zambia. Production was also known in West Africa among the Asante of Ghana, and on the island of Madagascar.

It had a wide range of uses. It was often worn wrapped around the waist, and under the arms or toga style. It had a variety of domestic uses including screening and bedding. Barkcloth also played an important role in ceremonies for birth, initiation, marriage, and funerals.

From the mid-19th to the early 20th century, imported cotton fabrics became more widely available. More modest styles of dress were promoted due to the influence of Muslim and Christian religious practice. Barkcloth production and use declined.

Among many, barkcloth began to hold ambivalent associations with the past. Today barkcloth survives among very few communities where it continues to hold special significance and positive links with long held cultural traditions.

In the Ituri rainforest in the Democratic Republic of Congo, loincloths of barkcloth from a number of ficus species are decorated with intricate painted patterns relating to the natural world around them. These are worn by the Mbuti for ceremonies and performances associated with community rites of passage.

Among the Baganda in the Masaka region of southern Uganda, large rectangles of the distinctive undecorated, reddish brown barkcloth from the mutuba tree (ficus natalensis) is produced. It continues to be a very visible symbol of monarchy and royal heritage.

Recognition of the significance of barkcloth production in 21st century Bugandan cultural identity was acknowledged in 2005 by UNESCO. Ugandan barkcloth making was proclaimed a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Indonesia

Barkcloth was once produced throughout Southeast Asia. There was great diversity in regional styles. From reddish-brown cloth in the Nicobar Islands to embroidered garments in Laos, regional styles developed according to local customs and needs.

On the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, barkcloth was commonly used for clothing and domestic items until the end of the nineteenth century. In the highland communities of Central Sulawesi, clothes for special occasions were made from soft, white barkcloth. They were painted with bold, symbolic designs, and bright colours. Intricately patterned sigas (men's headdresses) and halili (women's blouses) would have been worn at feasts and important life events. Decorated with geometric motifs and symbols like buffalo horns, four-petalled flowers and suns, the cloths also contained spiritual and ritual importance.

From the early twentieth century, the Dutch colonial government took a more active role in Central Sulawesi. Christian missions were established in the interior. Traditional ways of life and dress were discouraged and imported woven textiles were introduced. Barkcloth production and use declined.

Today, the Lore region of Central Sulawesi is one of the last places that still produces and uses barkcloth in Indonesia. It is now recognised and appreciated as a distinctive cultural heritage. Makers from Central Sulawesi have exhibited their cloth in national museums and private galleries in Jakarta. It has also been used by contemporary artists, featuring in costumes and installations in international exhibitions.

In recent years, the craftsmanship and sustainable quality of barkcloth have been promoted by artisans in Bali. They partner with makers in Sulawesi to produce bags and accessories. Although Indonesian barkcloth is no longer produced and used on the scale it once was, it continues to be valued as a unique regional art form with environmental relevance for the future.

Japan

Attush is the Ainu term for barkcloth. It has been made and worn by the Ainu, Indigenous people in northern Japan, Sakhalin, and the Kuril Islands, for centuries. The climate of these regions and the hunting, rather than agricultural, lifestyle of the Ainu are not conducive to producing silk or cotton, which is commonly used in mainland Japan. Ainu clothing is made from barkcloth, animal skin or, from the 19th century, imported cotton.

The Ainu produce attush, an attractive buff or golden fabric, from the inner bark of young mountain elm trees. The elm bast fibre, known as ohyo, is soaked then processed into thin strips which are woven on a backstrap loom. The resulting fabric, mainly used for robes, is lightweight yet durable. Ainu robes have a similar overall shape to robes, or kimono, worn by wajin (ethnically Japanese) in mainland Japan. However, the sleeves of Ainu robes are tapered. This uses less material and is more practical when carrying out tasks.

Although the robes are worn by men and women, it is the women who weave the attush as well as make and decorate the robes. Indigo-dyed cotton, acquired through trade, is often appliqued with embroidery to create abstract designs. The designs are said to variously represent thorns, eyes, stars, and possibly animals. These decorative patterns demonstrate the artistic skills and creativity of the maker and are said to please the kamuy (spirits or gods). The patterns are concentrated around the openings (hem, cuffs, and collar) of the garment to provide a protective element from harmful spirits.

Highly decorated attush robes are reserved for ceremonial occasions. Simpler ones are worn in daily life. However, due to the colonisation and forced assimilation of the Ainu in Hokkaido by mainland Japanese in the 19th century, the wearing of attush and other Ainu robes has dwindled. The traditional weaving and embroidery skills necessary to make them has also declined.

Pacific Islands

Pacific Islanders have been making barkcloth for millennia. It was produced in large quantities across the islands of Polynesia and Melanesia. Micronesia is not known to be a barkcloth producing area due to the lack of appropriate trees.

Often referred to generically as tapa across the Pacific Islands, many Islands have their own names for the cloth. These include Fijian masi, Hawaiian kapa, Samaoan siapo, Niuean hiapo, and Tongan ngatu.

The cloths that were created across the Pacific varied in size and intended use. Whilst sheets of barkcloth were made by most barkcloth producing Islands, many Islands also used barkcloth in other ways.

Image gallery

In Papua New Guinea barkcloth was draped over fibre frames to create visually arresting ceremonial masks. In Niue barkcloth is sometimes used to create tiputa or poncho. In Tuvalu barkcloth was used for delicately embroidered belts. Huge lengths of barkcloth would have been presented as gifts at major occasions such as weddings in western Polynesia. In Fiji barkcloth was even used for printing newspapers onto.

Some Pacific barkcloths were highly decorated. Others were left plain stained simply but powerfully with turmeric or other natural dyes.

The production and use of barkcloth declined in many Pacific Islands during the 19th century. This was due to the introduction of cotton fabrics by European missionaries, traders, and government officials. Today it is being revived in places such as Hawai'i, Aotearoa New Zealand and Niue, and remains strong in the Islands of Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Sāmoa, and Fiji.

Jamaica

The tradition of making barkcloth was introduced to Jamaica in the 17th century by African slaves from Ghana and the Congo taken to labour on sugar and coffee plantations. The practice was modified to suit the natural environment of Jamaica and its resources.

Lace bark, as it became known, was made from the bark of the fibrous lagetto tree. Its most common use was for the production of household items and clothing. Unlike other barkcloth, lace bark was made by teasing out the refined fibres of the lagetto bark by hand. The fibres were then dried in the sun. The end result was a fine cloth which resembled lace or linen, hence its name.

By the end of the nineteenth century the trees became scarce due to overuse. The production of lace bark rapidly declined. Recently a small grove of lagetto trees was discovered in Jamaica. There is currently a petition to UNESCO to have the area designated as a world heritage site.

Barkcloth on film

Discover the process of making and designing siapo (barkcloth) in American Sāmoa with siapo artist Reggie Meredith Fitiao.

A note on this film: In April 2020 National Museums Scotland, in partnership with the University of Glasgow, was due to hold a barkcloth masterclass led by Samoan artists Reggie Meredith Fitiao and Ulisone Fitiao, exploring the art of Samoan siapo. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic this event was cancelled and instead Reggie and Ulisone created this video.

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The ancient craft of barkcloth across the world | National Museums Scotland

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Barkcloth is a type of natural cloth made by stripping, soaking, and beating or weaving lengths of the inner bark from trees such as paper mulberry, ficus

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Sumayya Vally, an Honorary Professor of Practice, is the founder and Principal of Counterspace, a practice lauded for its innovative design, research, and educational pursuits. Counterspace is dedicated to articulating expressions of hybrid identities and spaces, with a focus on African and Islamic conditions that are both indigenous and diasporic. Vally's unique design methodology is forensic in nature, leveraging the oral, aural, ritual, and often overlooked elements as fertile grounds for historical exploration and creative output.

In 2019, Vally was selected to design the 20th Serpentine Pavilion in London, making her the youngest architect to work on the commission. The pavilion opened to critical acclaim as being one of the most radical pavilion designs to shape the commission. Her collaboration with the Serpentine extended to the creation of the Support Structures for Support Structures fellowship programme, aimed at empowering artists and collectives working at the intersection of the arts, social justice and ecology.

In 2022, Vally was recognized by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader and was named a TIME100 Next list honoree, named as a figure poised to transform the future of architectural practice and theory. She has expanded her influence by joining the Board of Directors at the World Monuments Fund and actively participating on numerous boards that share her passion for dynamic forms of archive, embodied heritages and the development of innovative knowledge networks within the arts. The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada acknowledged her contributions to architecture and society by awarding her the 2023 Honorary Fellowship. Further accolades include being named the Emerging Architect of the Year at the 2023 Dezeen Awards and being listed among the Financial Times Readers' Women of the Year 2023.

In addition to her architectural achievements, Vally's role as the Artistic Director of the inaugural Islamic Arts Biennale (January - May 2023) in Jeddah marked a pivotal moment in reimagining the definition of Islamic art. Her innovative approach, rooted in decolonial principles and grounded in the lived experiences of the Islamic world, has earned widespread acclaim and praise for its bold reinterpretation of traditional paradigms.

Parallel to her practice, Vally has made significant contributions to academic discourse. From 2015 to 2021, she directed the master's studio, Unit 12, at the Graduate School of Architecture, University of Johannesburg, an initiative by Professor Lesley Lokko; aimed at devising a curriculum catered to the African continent. Her extensive teaching and lecturing engagements include serving as the Pelli Distinguished Visiting Professor at the School of Architecture, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; leading a new master's program, Hijra, at the Royal College of Art; and holding the position of Honorary Professor of Practice at The Bartlett School of Architecture, and remains dedicated to transforming architectural education globally.

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Sumayya Vally, an Honorary Professor of Practice, is the founder and Principal of Counterspace, a practice lauded for its innovative design, research, and educational pursuits. Counterspace is dedicated to articulating expressions of hybrid identities and spaces, with a focus on African and Islamic conditions that are both indigenous and diasporic. Vally’s unique design methodology is forensic in nature, leveraging the oral, aural, ritual, and often overlooked elements as fertile grounds for historical exploration and creative output.

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The aim of the FACE Excellence Prize is to amplify Black and minoritised creativity as a broad and limitless possibility and inspire all our minoritised creatives - working within a white centric system, to find belonging in a prize that recognises their unique contribution to style, culture, fashion and society.

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Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion in football

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As the nation’s number one sport, football has incredible power to bring people together. It can remove barriers and be a force for good in communities. Part of your role as a coach is to help create equal, diverse, and inclusive football environments for all.

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We follow a ballet dancer in Carlos Acosta's dance company as she strives to overcome a knee injury before a premiere.

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DARK MATTER - Eine multidimensionale Parallelwelt aus Licht, Raum und Klang.

DARK MATTER ist ein Parallelkosmos aus raumgreifenden Lichtinstallationen, in dem die Grenzen zwischen realer und digitaler Welt verschwimmen. In den pechschwarzen Räumen eines ehemaligen Fabrikgeländes begibt sich der Besucher auf eine Reise durch sieben teilweise interaktive Werke. Licht, Bewegung und Klang verschmelzen zu emotionalen Choreografien aus leuchtenden Formen und Farben.

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DARK MATTER ist ein Parallelkosmos aus raumgreifenden Lichtinstallationen in dem die Grenzen zwischen realer und digitaler Welt verschwimmen.

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We're a distributed team with presence around the world.

Netherlands
Dark Matter Laboratories B.V.
Pakhuis de Zwijger
Piet Heinkade 181K
1019 HC Amsterdam

KvK number: 75174405

United Kingdom
Dark Matter Laboratories Limited
217 Mare Street
London, E8 3QE

Company number: 13294211

Canada
Laboratoires de Matière sombre / Dark Matter Labs Organisation à but non-lucratif canadien / Canadian not-for-profit
1755 Rue Saint-Patrick app C-403
Montréal (Québec), H3K 3G9
Numéro de l'organisation / Corporation number: 1196376-7

South Korea
주식회사 다크매터랩스코리아 / Dark Matter Labs Korea Co., Ltd
#301, Pyeongtaek 5-ro 20beon-gil 8,
Pyeongtaek-si, Gyeonggi-do, 17902

경기도 평택시 평택5로 20번길 8, 301호, 우편번호 17902
사업자등록증: 808-88-01717

Sweden
Mörk Materia Laboratoriet AB / Dark Matter Labs Sweden
Östergatan 1
211 25 Malmö
Registration number: 559305-1047

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At Dm, we're working to create institutions, instruments and infrastructures for a more equitable, caring and sustainable future.

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The official site for the Ikenga Organisation. We support and encourage those entering the design and creative professions from non-traditional backgrounds.

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The story of how I reinvented a material and the fruit that changed my life | Carmen Hijosa | TEDxMadrid

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Carmen Hijosa shares her life journey from traditional leather craftwork and its negative consequences for people and environment on its origin, to the creation of her own material, more responsible, honest and ecological. Originally from Spain, Carmen’s career has taken her around the world. With a background in leathergoods design and manufacturing she worked as an industry consultant, and was brought to the Philippines to advice on its exporting industry of that material, and there she realized its enormous ecological impact. This led her to research in order to find an alternative. She had numerous recognitions: Cartier Women’s Initiative Award, Arts Foundation UK Innovation in Sustainable Materials Award, – Innovate UK Women in Innovation Award (2016 and 2017) and The Woman of the 3rd Millennium Award for Social Innovation and Advancement. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

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Lenovo reports industry-leading women in tech roles, progress toward 2030 emissions reduction goals, and proactive governance to create smarter AI for all in 18th annual FY2023/24 ESG Report - Lenovo StoryHub

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Lenovo has published its 18th annual ESG Report, further demonstrating its commitment to being a responsible corporate citizen with a vision to provide smarter technology for all

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We are a group of South Asians empowering our community through representation. That's why we created, Kulfi, a celebration of culture and beauty. If you didn't know, Kulfi is a type of South Asian ice cream. It's sweet to be...

We see you. We are a loud and proud South Asian voice. We represent and speak up, through our products, our storytelling, and our actions. Your story is our story and we're here to share it.

We're taking out the guesswork. We create and test our products for and with people like us: our skin tones, undertones, and skin concerns. So we can bring you the right shades every time.

We're giving back. Self-expression is closely tied to mental health. We donate to mental health organizations that serve the unique challenges faced by our communities.

Hi, I'm Priyanka Ganjoo.

I didn't see myself in the beauty industry I worked in. I spent years in the beauty industry in the background helping indie and established brands grow their business, but I rarely saw South Asians represented at the forefront. For years, I kept waiting for a brand that celebrated and centered us South Asians in its narrative. All I found were brands that tokenized and appropriated our culture, without even creating shades that worked for our skin tones! I always felt like an outsider. Finally, I said to myself, this isn't good enough. So I left the world of corporate beauty and started Kulfi.

As word spread about Kulfi in the South Asian community, writers, designers, marketers, and even ex-bankers, came and joined hands with me to build our company.

Kulfi is the result of my journey rediscovering the joy in makeup for myself and reclaiming my beauty for myself. It is an ode to the girl growing up in Delhi spending summers eating kulfi and to the woman I am today.

All in all, Kulfi is our treat to you.

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We are a group of South Asians empowering our community through representation. That's why we created, Kulfi, a celebration of culture and beauty. If you didn't know, Kulfi is a type of South Asian ice cream. It's sweet to be... We see you. We are a loud and proud South Asian voice.

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AFROSCOPE is a leading artist, designer and social entrepreneur on a mission to decolonize imagination.

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Prince William visits Notpla as they unveil new Earthshot-branded product and prepare for major fundraising round - The Earthshot Prize

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As Notpla prepares for its largest fundraising round to date, Prince William was shown its first Earthshot Prize-branded seaweed-coated food packaging.

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Use of Artificial intelligence generates questions about the future of art

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The urban-lux vegan trainer and apparel brand for men and women // Shop exclusive LØCI collections online only.

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Rachel Bakewell Neurodivergent Artist & Designer
Address: Joel Lane, Gee Cross, Hyde, SK14 5JZ

Email: rbakewell@outlook.com
Skills Volunteering
Venture Arts -Assisting with artist workshops 2019

Lane End Primary School art workshops 2019
Education
Manchester School of Art MA Textiles September 2021-October 2023

The Manchester College BA (Hons) Creative Media & Communication (Top Up)
The Manchester College Hotbed Press Tameside College Macclesfield College HND Graphic Design Exhibitions Art & Design for Adults & Foundation Art & Design Commissions/Awards The Complete Printmaker Foundation Degree Contemporary Art Practice
Open University Product Design Diploma

Degree Show, Manchester School of Art, Manchester

The Manchester College End of Year Exhibition June 2019

Rogue Gallery and Art Studios, Manchester

Nexus Café, Northern Quarter, Manchester Group Exhibition 2019

Nexus Café, Northern Quarter, Manchester Group Exhibition July 2018

The Manchester College End of Year Exhibition June 2018

Pop-up Market & Temporary Gallery space, Northenden March 2018

The Manchester College, Outstanding Achievement Awards, My Winning Trophy Design, Final Year Group Collaboration September 2019

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Rachel Bakewell Neurodivergent Artist & Designer Address: Joel Lane, Gee Cross, Hyde, SK14 5JZ Email: rbakewell@outlook.com Skills Printmaking Drawing Ceramics Photography Acrylic Painting Textiles Archives Short Film Bookbinding Research Volunteering Venture Arts -Assisting with artist workshops 2019 Lane End Primary School art workshops 2019 Education Manchester School of Art MA Textiles September 2021-October 2023 The Manchester...

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Sporting success on the world stage gives us, the high-performance sport community, a unique platform from which to power positive, meaningful and lasting change for people and the planet or as it's also described, to have a social impact.

The three impact areas where we have the credibility and ability to effect the greatest change are:

Improving health and wellbeing - From prioritising the physical and mental wellbeing of every member of our high-performance sport community, supporting our staff, to empowering athletes to speak out about the adversity they've overcome and inspiring positive relationships with individual's physical and mental wellbeing.

Equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) - We work to advance equality, diversity and inclusion within UK Sport and the high-performance community. We provide advice and engage with teams and funded partners to help them develop EDI initiatives and ensure that EDI is embedded into their core business - in line with our EDI Strategy.

Driving environmental sustainability - From reducing our own negative environmental impact as a sector, to enhancing the knowledge, skills, confidence and capability of people who work across the high-performance sporting system and events.

We believe that in order to maximise high-performance sport's contribution to positive change, we as UK Sport, and high-performance sport more broadly (including the Major Events into which we invest) must walk the walk when it comes to these impact areas.

In walking the walk, this provides credibility that further empowers athletes, sports and major events - whether individually or collectively - to harness their power and platform.

Why has UK Sport committed to powering positive change?

Powering positive change is also an essential component of creating a thriving sporting system - it underpins effective and sustainable NGB organisational health, enhancing our competitive advantage at world level.

These pressing issues are also important to sports fans and athletes.

Powering positive change gives us an opportunity to engage the public, ensuring Olympic and Paralympic sport remains relevant for a broader and more diverse fanbase and continues to bring value to society, the public and the government.

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Powering positive change and social impact

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We want to contribute to a happier, prouder and more connected society, using the power and platform of sport to inspire positive change.

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A concept store for culture, the Maison Assouline store embodies the spirit of the Assouline brand. Founders Martine and Prosper Assouline created Maison Assouline as a refuge for those seeking style, culture, and art de vivre. Maison Assouline has it all: an exclusive line of Assouline Interiors furniture, limited-edition gift items, and antique collectables. Besides the expertly curated bookshelves filled with the latest Assouline releases and rare first editions of classic titles, visitors can peruse rare works of art picked up on the Assoulines' travels, discover monthly pop-up themed exhibitions and enjoy a cocktail or a light lunch at the Swans Bar.

Maison Assouline London

Opened 2014

The international flagship has served as an oasis of culture in the heart of bustling Piccadilly, housed in the landmark building which was an old bank designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens in 1922. It was featured by Town & Country in 2017 as one of the world's most beautiful bookstores.

196A Piccadilly
London, W1J 9EY, UK
piccadilly@assouline.com
+44 20 3034 3090
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Explore Maison Assouline, our international flagship store and a temple to style, culture and art set in a historic building in London's Piccadilly.

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View Stephanie Kane’s profile on The Dots. Stephanie is a Fashion Illustrator, Digital Artist and Fine Artist currently based in London.

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The responsibility of intelligence: Ethical challenges in AI

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We are delighted to invite you to an event at the Centre for AI Futures. In this event, the Rector of United Universities, Professor Tshilidizi Marwal, will give a speech entitled “The Responsibility of Intelligence: Ethical Challenges in AI”, followed by a Q&A.

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Journey of The Afro Arawaks by Vince Frazer at Outernet

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Sir Anish Kapoor CBE RA born 1954 | Tate

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Artist page for Sir Anish Kapoor CBE RA (born 1954)

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Contemplations on ARTivism for sustainable fashion - Taadmagazine

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In a world where every other piece of fashion is labelled ‘sustainable’ and nearly every brand claims allegiance to sustainability, we are still falling short in the fight against climate change. And here comes Madam Art, not only poking its…

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"We want to be subversive, to transform our audience, to confront them with some disarming statements, backed up by facts-and great visuals-and hopefully convert them." -The Guerrilla Girls

Pablo Picasso, speaking of his now world-famous anti-war painting, Guernica, boldly declared: "Painting is not made to decorate apartments. It's an offensive and defensive weapon against the enemy."

Whether you call it artistic activism or artivism, the compound word keeps gaining traction. The use of creative expression to cultivate awareness and social change spans various disciplines including visual art, poetry, music, film, and theater. To make their points, artivists cleverly employ parody or satire through culture jamming and other forms of subvertising-a portmanteau of subvert and advertising- to change the original meaning of a well-known image or corporate logo. The Guerrilla Girls were making the most of anonymity around a decade before Banksy, first donning gorilla masks in 1985 to point out gender and racial imbalance through humor and facts.

Since co-founding The Center for Artistic Activism in 2009, Steve Lambert and Steve Duncombe have trained and mentored over 1,500 artists and activists around the world. Duncombe is an activist, author, and professor of Media and Culture at New York University. Lambert, an artist and professor of New Media at Purchase College, New York, does not use the term artivism; he feels it implies the need for a new term to describe a long-standing combination.

While artivism is said to have started with the Chicano movement in Los Angeles in the late 1960's, Lambert and Duncombe investigated further. "We had a hunch that art and activism were a powerful combination..., but when we tried to dig back to the beginning, there was always something that came before," says Lambert. "When you start looking closely, every successful activist movement involves creativity, culture, and innovation," Duncombe adds. "What we realized in the end is that *all successful activism is artistic activism*."

Lambert points out that most activist organizations - and sometimes even artists themselves - seriously underestimate the role artists can play. "They can do so much more than simply help to 'raise awareness,' he explains. "Limiting artists to that role doesn't tap into much more potent ways creativity works within movements."

Dannie Snyder is an interdisciplinary artivist as well as the co-host of Re-Flect/Calibrate. In this podcast, she focuses on professional artivists and the genealogy of the field. "Since I began my studies in film and theater," shares Snyder, "I have focused on using art as a means for social change, because I feel like my life is more fulfilling if my art does more than just entertain, when it significantly impacts culture and society." She is currently focusing her own efforts on several causes including Prison Abolition and Free the Vaccine. "To tackle complex issues like the criminal justice system, we absolutely require creative problem solvers and visionaries...."

When evaluating an effective campaign, Snyder considers how artivists are changing behaviors, pointing out the difference between merely raising awareness through the use of a hashtag versus inspiring measurable responses such as visible, physical actions. Starting with a clear objective, artivists must be willing to ponder creative routes and employ tactics to measure the efficacy of their intentions, she says.

While mass production of an image is certainly one approach, this can lead to a fine line between activist-driven art and propaganda." With propaganda, there is less room for interpretation," Snyder explains. "Propaganda tells you exactly what to think, feel, and do, whereas good artivism should inspire critical thinking and empathy."

Peggy Diggs of Galisteo, NM refers to herself as an art worker concerned with social justice. "I don't tend to think that any one person can change anyone's beliefs, much less behavior," says Diggs. "I think attitudes can be cumulatively nudged towards justice if people are presented with multiple renditions of thinking not like their own."

Her first public piece was the Domestic Violence Milk Carton Project in 1992, consisting of 1.5 million milk cartons in four different designs. The artist's extensive research into the battered women's movement included interviews with two women imprisoned for killing their abusive partners-one of whom suggested a grocery display where others affected by domestic violence could see the work. "The hardest part was finding a dairy that would do it," shares Diggs.

Since around 2007, the artist has been exploring racism, often in the form of distributed multiples including business cards and junk mail. She was prompted by a grim personal discovery: "After my dad's death that year, I found among his old family papers a receipt for a slave. That did it."

After interviewing participants about race to create her Being White series, Diggs challenges white viewers to explore their privilege. "I think now my target audience is older White people, folks raised with an unquestioning belief that being White ... It's the unquestioning part that I want to grapple with."

While Diggs also creates gallery work, she says: "I love public work because what intrigues me is taking very familiar formats-yard signs, paper napkins, billboards-and using them in unexpected ways. So much media flies by us, but I think this approach trips folks up and they are likely to pay attention."

Artivist Votan Ik, whose tribal affiliations are Maya and Nahua, is the founder of NSRGNTS, an art collective and brand that advocates for Native Rights. A muralist and street artist, Ik frequently collaborates with his partner, Leah "Povi" Lewis, (Pueblo/Hopi/Zuni/Diné).

"Without art, there is no culture. Artists evolve the culture, preserve the culture," says Ik. "As an Indigenous artist, 'I' cannot take credit for my art entirely on my own," he adds. "When 'I' speak of the work, 'I' replace the 'I' with 'We,' for we (ancestors, colleagues, community, family, friends, and at times foes....) all make this possible."

With the assistance of Lewis and NSRGNTS member Derek Brown (Diné), in 2017 Ik created the mural Ganawenjiige Onigam (She Watches Over Duluth) at the American Indian Community Housing Organization in Duluth, MN in part to shed light on an epidemic of kidnapped Indigenous women, as well as to honor the water protectors at Standing Rock.

Ik hopes that his work will inspire viewers to get involved through whatever means possible. "Raising awareness is the first step, but creating actual change is the goal," he shares. "Although people tend to view the work we do as targeting Indigenous people, we'd like to express the idea that all people are indigenous (even the four-legged and winged and so on). Everyone is indigenous to somewhere, and being indigenous is being human."

They created all five of their 2020 murals for free, "to inspire hope and resilience throughout the country." Getting paid for their work, however, serves their cause, allowing them to provide projects for communities who might not otherwise have the funding.

There is an ethics debate regarding artistic activists profiting from their work, based on an expectation to volunteer and donate. "Funding is...crucial," Ik observes. "We do live in a country fueled by capital, and we must support underpaid or unpaid artists for their dauntless expression and involvement. Society tends to see art as a hobby and not a career."

The artivist cites Jane Fonda, Ricky Martin, and Jaden Smith as examples of creatives who engage in activism. "What they do with their earnings is not in question, we just accept their involvement." He adds that activist musicians Public Enemy, Bob Marley, and Bob Dylan are not perceived as exploiting the cause. "Instead of seeing ourselves as separate and benefiting from it, we see ourselves as an extension and expression of it."

Artist Jon Ching agrees. "Do we demand that David Attenborough, Bill McKibben, or Jane Goodall donate all of their work for the sake of the planet? No, but perhaps we would if they identified as artists."

Ching feels that he is just stepping into his artivist identity. He has released a giclée with Andy Okay to benefit the Rainforest Trust, with another planned in support of Amazon Frontlines. He was also a host of Our Planet Week, where art inspired by climate and environmental themes was turned into 5,000 trees. "When I donate work to raise funds for trees... and see it become a forest that will hopefully last a century or more, the monetary value of that one painting is eclipsed by the enduring value of that action," shares the artivist. This summer, Ching will support specific endangered species through smaller fundraising efforts, and later this year will release a giclée with the PangeaSeed Foundation.

Ching now lives in Los Angeles, but grew up surrounded by the natural beauty of O'ahu, Hawai'i. "I've always wanted to use my artistic voice to raise awareness about environmental issues," he says. "Now my approach is to explore the beauty of nature to spark reverence and appreciation in hopes that it leads to concern and protection."

A self-trained artist, Ching's surreal style speaks to the core of his work. "I want to show that everything is connected and that protecting nature is actually protecting ourselves. When I paint a bird whose feathers are flowers or leaves, it's because at some level, everything is connected and thus the health of one is the health of the other. My call to action is to remember the magic and awe that is this planet."

The Center for Artistic Activism's new book and accompanying workbook to empower activist artists, The Art of Activism: Your All-Purpose Guide to Making the Impossible Possible (O/R Books), will be available in June. Lambert encourages stretching beyond the goals of raising awareness, inspiring dialogue, and communicating a message: "Artistic activism can change behaviors, our dreams, and our sense of what's possible, and it can impact power and policy."

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Artivism: Making a Difference Through Art | Art & Object

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Using art as a means for social change, artivists can change the world

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Will a picture of the Pope kissing Ahmed el-Tayeb, Sheikh of the al-Azhar mosque, encourage fashion savvy shoppers to ditch Uniqlo and buy their brightly coloured jumpers from Benetton instead? Probably not. But it does remind the public that the Italian brand has quite a history of provocative camp…

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Global funding for arts activism interventions that seek to mobilize communities and achieve social change.

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Caroline McHugh The art of being yourself 

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Caroline McHugh The art of being yourself 

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https://youtu.be/veEQQ-N9xWU?si=2gRIti2Ab_gLx3RU

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The art of being yourself | Caroline McHugh | TEDxMiltonKeynesWomen

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Charles White's commitment to creating powerful images of African Americans-what his gallerist and, later, White himself described as "images of dignity"-was unwavering over the course of his four-decade career. White believed that art had a role to play in changing the world: "Art must be an integral part of the struggle. It can't simply mirror what's taking place. It must adapt itself to human needs. It must ally itself with the forces of liberation. The fact is, artists have always been propagandists. I have no use for artists who try to divorce themselves from the struggle."

Using his skills as a draftsman, printmaker, and painter, White developed his style and approach over time to address changing concerns and new audiences. His 1945 lithograph, Hope for the Future, shows a mother holding her child in front of a window that opens onto a bleak landscape; a noose hanging from a barren tree in the background is just visible over the mother's right shoulder. With this image, White condemns the violence facing African Americans and forces the viewer to confront it. In his much later work Black Pope (Sandwich Board Man) (1973), the central figure, a sunglass-wearing street preacher depicted in the brown oil-wash that would become White's signature medium, commands viewers' attention with a sandwich board sign reading "NOW." The preacher is bundled up in a bulky coat and scarf, while his sunglasses mask his gaze. His raised left hand forms a peace sign that also doubles as a papal blessing. Stenciled text at the top of the composition reads "CHICAGO," and the haunting skeleton hovering behind the preacher and the shapes and shadows filling the background all hint at further meaning without providing clear answers. White frames the street preacher with gravitas befitting a prophet, leaving the viewer to decode the details.

White lived in Chicago, New York, and, finally, Los Angeles over the course of his career, and was a critical member of creative communities in each of these cities. He counted photographer Gordon Parks, painter Jacob Lawrence, and singer and actor Harry Belafonte as friends and colleagues. From his earliest days as a mature artist, White was also a gifted and dedicated teacher, and David Hammons and Kerry James Marshall were among his many students. His practice of making rigorous, socially committed art affected these younger artists, some of whom continue his legacy in their own work. As Marshall noted, "Under Charles White's influence I always knew that I wanted to make work that was about something: history, culture, politics, social issues. . . . It was just a matter of mastering the skills to actually do it."

Esther Adler, Associate Curator, Drawings and Prints

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Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie | Speaker | TED

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Inspired by Nigerian history and tragedies all but forgotten by recent generations of westerners, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s novels and stories are jewels in the crown of diasporan literature.

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Visualise

Art is one of the only subjects that explicitly offers a space for personal exploration, where students are encouraged to respond to the world and their place within it.

Art lessons are therefore a unique opportunity for students to explore their own identities, heritage and experiences, and those of others.

It is vital that art education is inclusive and inspiring for all students.

That's why the Runnymede Trust and Freelands Foundation partnered to deliver Visualise, the first major research into race and ethnicity in art education. We want to ensure art education is accessible and fulfilling for all students, and that teachers are supported to deliver a broad and engaging curriculum.

Our research confirms what art educators have been saying for years: that art education in the UK is at crisis point. Although teachers are doing the best they can to nurture diverse art practices within their classrooms, their best efforts are rooted in an education system that cannot support either students' or teachers' efforts to improve their experiences of art education.

I owe everything to my experience of art class in secondary school. I found it a safe place where I (for the first time) felt I was worth something. Through art I learnt how to read and enjoy being still. I became more interested in English and science because I began to understand their intersections with creativity. I owe art class and my art teacher everything. It saved my life.

- Rene Matić, Artist

Despite the creative potential of art and design education, the classroom experience has become limited by an educational system that encourages well-worn routes to 'grade-success' that favour a narrow art canon. Young people are losing so much of the richness and innovation that learning and making art should offer.

of artists referenced in GCSE Art exam papers are from Black or South Asian backgrounds.

Artists from Black backgrounds.

Artists from South Asian backgrounds.

GCSE exam papers remain incredibly limiting - just 2.3% of named stand alone artists referenced in GCSE Art exam papers are from Black (1.54%) or South Asian (0.74%) backgrounds.

This is at stark odds with what both students and teachers are asking for. Nearly two thirds (66%) of secondary school students want to study artists from a wider range of ethnic backgrounds, rising to 80% among Black students.

We also recorded a strong desire amongst teachers to diversify their teaching content for the benefit of their students. But teachers are under pressure, overworked and under-resourced. A third of teachers had not encountered the work of any minority ethnic artists in their own education, with 90% of teachers surveyed saying that supplementary teaching resources dedicated to the work of minority ethnic artists would aid their teaching.

of secondary school students want to study artists from a wider range of ethnic backgrounds, rising to

of teachers surveyed saying that supplementary teaching resources dedicated to the work of minority ethnic artists would aid their teaching.

Echoing a broader theme emerging from educators across subjects and key stages, teachers also feel unsupported in how to discuss race in their classrooms. Fewer than 4 in 10 teachers surveyed felt sure of the correct language to use when teaching the work of minority ethnic artists, with 82% asking for additional standardised content on race and diversity. Teachers need support and confidence in teaching about these issues.

Without standardised guidance, they are being forced to navigate these complex discussions on their own; in a subject which demands students explore identity and experiences.

When teachers are equipped to nurture reflection and discovery with the students they know best, they can transform the way young people think and engage with the world around them.

First, we must ask where are art educators taking their lead from? If it is a historical notion of 'canon', as is often the case, then students will learn - as I did in my '80s and '90s state education in inner London - that art is made by dead European men.

- Artist and educator, Visualise focus group

We're calling for diversity and representation standards to be established in GCSE assessment materials, alongside better resources for teachers that support a broad and diverse curriculum. This must be accompanied with improved racial literacy training and support for teachers in all subject areas. Finally, we want to see closer partnerships between teachers and galleries, so that students can enjoy the breadth of contemporary practice in real life.

FOR EXAM BOARDS

Establish standards for inclusion and diversity in GCSE assessment materials.

Improve access to teacher and curriculum resources that support a broad and diverse curriculum.

Improve racial literacy and curriculum development skills for teachers.

FOR POLICY MAKERS

Investigate low levels of engagement in art lessons and extra curricular enrichment activities offered by schools.

Improve understanding and promotion of the skills gained in art and creative subjects.

Improve the data landscape around art education across all levels of education.

FOR THE VISUAL ARTS SECTOR

Improve partnerships between galleries and schools, with specific attention to diversity and representation.

It's time to imagine an art education that meets its creative and innovative potential, one which is broad, inclusive and will equip students with the tools they need to navigate and thrive, whether or not they decide to pursue further education, or a career, in the visual arts. Art is powerful; it helps us to visualise ourselves in the present, and to project into the future; we need to imagine that future in a way that is truly inclusive, and those efforts need to start in our art classrooms, now.

Today, we live in a world drenched in cultural products. Through our waking moments, we are surrounded by the designed, fabricated, structured, scribed, and edited results of human creative endeavour. Artists and designers should bring with them influences, approaches, ideas, and solutions drawn from the spectacular array of possibilities afforded by the social and cultural diversity of our contemporary societies. This process must start in the classroom.

- Keith Piper, Artist, Foreword

The Runnymede Trust

is the UK's leading independent race equality think tank.

We produce research to challenge racial injustice in Britain, which we use to lead debate and influence policy. Since 1968, the Runnymede Trust has worked tirelessly to represent the lives of those millions of Britons who constitute this country's people of colour, and to build a Britain in which all citizens and communities feel valued, enjoy equal opportunities, lead fulfilling lives, and share a common sense of belonging.

In recent years our work includes playing a key role in bringing the Windrush Scandal to light; publishing landmark reports on

women of colour in the workplace; Islamophobia; race, class, and COVID-19 inequalities; race and the environmental emergency; a ground-breaking partnership with Penguin Books to expand the English Literature curriculum; and highlighting racial disparities across all areas of UK society in mainstream media.

The Runnymede Trust is proudly independent and believes in working alongside civil society, policymakers and the public to address the very real blight of racism and discrimination in Britain today.

About Freelands Foundation

Freelands Foundation

believes art is central to a broad and balanced education, and a right for everyone.

We are driven by a conviction in the vital role of learning and making to foster creativity, resilience, criticality and problem-solving that empowers and equips us for the future.

Our approach combines action research, through academic commissions, workshops, discussions, exhibitions, publications, films, partnerships and a dedicated library; and funding, through grants, awards, fellowships and residencies.

Today, we recognise the crisis in art education in the UK and the existential threat this poses not only to the sector but to wider our culture and communities. As we approach our tenth anniversary, we resolve to strengthen our work with teachers, students, schools, universities, artists and cultural organisations: championing, advancing and expanding the teaching and learning of art for everyone, in the belief that it equips society with the tools to imagine and build the future.

JOIN OUR MAILING LIST's

Join the Freelands Foundation list

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Race & inclusion in secondary schoolart education

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Visualise Art is one of the only subjects that explicitly offers a space for personal exploration, where students are encouraged to respond to the world and their place within it. Art lessons are therefore a unique opportunity for students to explore their own identities, heritage and experiences, and those of others.

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Dance Brigade Celebrates 40 Years of Artivism | KQED Arts