Digital Launch: the cut, the tear, the remix: contemporary collage and Black futures

Image: Kofi Oduro, Coded Poetry, 2020

Culminating the work of our Curator-In-Residence stylo starr, Nia Centre for the Arts and McMaster Museum of Art present a virtual exhibition opening on April 22 – May 1. the cut, the tear & the remix: contemporary collage and Black futures brings together the works of eight contemporary artists deeply engaged in the excavation of a future informed by their individual ancestral connections to the African and Caribbean diaspora and their varied interpretations of collage.

In celebration of the launch of the digital exhibition of the cut, the tear & the remix, stylo starr and SPATIAL-ESK will walk audience members through the exhibition, share how the immersive online space was built, and what sets it apart from other online exhibitions. The event will feature four of the Digital Collage artists, and allow them to speak about their work as it relates to the exhibition. Audience Q&A to follow. 

This online exhibition presents “cut & paste” techniques in not only its traditional tactile paper and photomontage iterations, but also in uncharacteristic expressions of new media including video, text and design. The digital presentation of the remix, as a result of current global circumstances, is in and of itself an envisioning of the future of Black spatial and temporal experiences marking an invitation to participate in this new imagining.

Featuring the works by Emkay Adjei-Manu, Anna Binta Diallo, FEZA, Sonya Mwambu, Kofi Oduro, SPATIAL-ESK, Ghislan Timm, and Yung Yemi, the exhibition marks an invitation to participate in a new imagining of the future of Black spatial and temporal experiences.

Join us to hear from some of the artists who built the digital experience for this exhibition: SPATIAL-ESK, Yung Yemi (Adeyemi Adegbesan), Kofi Oduro, Anna Binta Diallo. They’ll be discussing the journey to put this unique exhibition together, their work, and inspiration moderated by Nia Centre Program Manager, Adom Acheampong.

Register Now.

Meet The Panelists

SPATIAL-ESK 

SPATIAL-ESK is an artist of Zambian heritage based in Canada. He explores the interplay between urban space, architecture and cultural experience. His work comprises of carefully photographed ‘collage-models’ which bring imagined and constructed worlds to life. He uses collage as a medium to present disruptive and provoking concepts which often materialize into larger temporary and built works. His work has since been published in Blueprint Magazine – UK, Burrasca Journal, Italy, Parksify, California and has had work exhibited at the ‘Future of Art’ exhibition at Tate Modern, London. He currently works from his studio in Toronto. Follow him on Instagram.

Yung Yemi (Adeyemi Adegbesan) 

Yung Yemi (Adeyemi Adegbesan) is a Toronto-based artist whose multidisciplinary practice aims to examine the intersectionality of Black identity. He brings together varying elements to create his Afrofuturistic portraits, inspired by a range of source materials that embody the history and future of the culture. Yemi’s work interrogates the dichotomy of the richness of Black experiences against an imposed societal homogeneity often seen through traditional Westernized narratives. Follow him on Instagram.

Kofi Oduro 

Kofi Oduro is a creative engineer, thinker, poet, and performer living in Montreal, Quebec. His artistic practice is an observation of the world around us, that he puts into artworks for others to relate to or disagree with. Through videography, poetry and creative coding, Oduro highlights the realms of human performance and the human mind in different scenarios. His work has been presented nationally and internationally in various festivals and live events including the EyeMyth Media Arts Festival, Chale Wote Festival, Stoker Art Festival, Nocturne Halifax, as well as the Accra Film Festival in Ghana. Follow him on Instagram.

Anna Binta Diallo 

Anna Binta Diallo’s artwork investigates memory and nostalgia, creating unexpected narratives through explorations of identity. She was born in Dakar, Senegal, and raised in Winnipeg, MB. Her work has been shown nationally including exhibitions in Brandon, Winnipeg, Montreal, Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Central and internationally in Finland, Tawian, and Germany. She is currently based in Montreal, QC. Follow her on Instagram.

Meet the Curator-In-Residence

Stylo Starr is a visual alchemist based in Hamilton, Ontario. She has a BFA from Brock University and studied design at Mohawk College. A founding member of COBRA (the Coalition of Black and Racialized Artists) Hamilton, she has worked with varied organizations including Centre[3] for Artistic and Social Practice, Hamilton Arts Council, and McMaster University (curating the 2020 BFA graduation exhibition) and has exhibited at the Art Gallery of Hamilton and Art Gallery of Burlington among others. Known primarily for her multi-layered collage work, which has been featured on large public installations, international publications and apparel, Starr’s visual investigations surround predominantly BIPOCs and their relationship to the basic principles and elements of design, while reaffirming their agency as revered subjects of art history.

www.stylostarr.com | IG: @mouthfullofstars

About The Curator-In-Residence Program

Presented in partnership with the McMaster Museum of Art, the Curator-in-Residence is a pilot learning opportunity for an emerging Black curator to work with and within both an institutional and community setting. Working and learning alongside MMA Senior Curator Pamela Edmonds, as well as other curators and advisors, the emerging curator will gain skills, insight, and resources to further her independent curatorial practice, while producing a public exhibition with support from Nia Centre. Learn more here.