Bristol's Visual Arts Explore Slavery - Past & Present
Contemporary artists respond to slave trade legacy and issues
of human trafficking

8 August 2007: Seeds used as ballast on slave ships, the Clifton Suspension Bridge re-made in sugar and slavery as seen through the eyes of black filmmakers are amongst the season of exhibitions, off-site projects, re-enactments and community education projects that make up Bristol's visual arts response to Abolition 200, a commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the abolition of slavery.

Press Preview: Friday 14 September - 13.00hrs - 17.00hrs (Arnolfini & Bristol City Museum and Gallery). Transport from London provided on request.

From September, Bristol's leading arts institutions will come together to explore the contentious and complicated role that Bristol played in the slave trade and to examine contemporary issues of human trafficking and exploitation. Like Liverpool and Hull, Bristol played a key role in the transatlantic traffic in human beings that for 250 years fuelled the expansion of the British Empire. This collaborative initiative will provide a nuanced and multi-faceted insight into some of the complex issues involved in slavery both historically and in the world today.

These include:

• Arnolfini - Port City: On Mobility and Exchange
  15 September - 11 November 2007
  Port City is an international touring project including work by 20 artists including Maria Thereza Alves, Yto Barrida, Ursula Biemann, Meschac Gaba, Melanie Jackson, Erik van Lieshout, William Pope L and Zineb Sedira which addresses issues of global migration, trade and contemporary slavery. It includes gallery-based exhibitions accompanied by off-site projects, made in response to the specific context of Bristol.
  
  Seeds of Change, a project by Brazilian artist Maria Thereza Alves uses seeds contained within soil used as ballast on the ships entering Bristol. The ballast seeds, some of which have lain dorment for hundreds of years, have been germinated and tended by local groups to create a garden of living history. Meschac Gaba is re-creating well-known Bristol landmarks in sugar including the Clifton Suspension Bridge and Cabot's Tower, as part of a vast global city.
  
  Other works draw attention to issue of migration. Ursula Biemann presents Sahara Chronicle, a video installation focusing on migration routes across the desert. Moroccan artist Yto Barrada's work refers to the Straits of Gibraltar - the heavily policed divide between Africa and Europe. Her photographic series Sleepers presents images from her home town of Tangiers, where would-be émigrés await their moment of passage.
  
  Port City has been curated by Tom Trevor, director Arnolfini, with off-site projects co-curated by Claudia Zanfi (aMAZElab, Milano) and a Mahgreb screening programme curated by Ursula Biemann (Geneva).
  
  
• Bristol's City Museum & Art Gallery
  La Bouche du Roi (15 September - 28 October)
  La Bouche du Roi is an immersive multi-media installation by Bénin-born artist Romuald Hazoumé. Hazoumé uses a variety of found objects, video and photographs to form the body of the artwork. Haunting sounds and evocative smells emanate from the piece providing a powerful experience. Literally translated La Bouche du Roi means 'the mouth of the King' and refers to the port in Bénin from which many slaves were transported.
  
  The main body of the work consists of 304 'masks' made from black plastic petrol cans, with smaller masks representing women and children. Empty Liverpool-brewed gin bottles, cowrie shells, spices and mirrors serve as examples of goods taken to Africa to exchange for slaves.
  
  
• Watershed - October 2007
  To complement Amazing (Dis)Grace held at the Watershed in March 2007, Through the Lens Brightly: Black Cinema and Slavery will focus on how black filmmakers have reclaimed slavery as a topic for cinematic exploration. Black directors in the African diaspora have looked at slavery through two interdependent lenses, those of history and identity. These twin aspects have propelled directors such as Julie Dash (Daughter of the Dust), Charles Burnett (Nightjohn/Killer of Sheep), Kasi Lemmons (Eve's Bayou) and Haile Gerima (Sankofa/Bush Mama)* to produce work that helps us expand and challenge our ideas of 'the black family' during and beyond slavery. This short season will look at titles that best present what the godfather of black filmmaking Oscar Micheaux wished for, "to view the coloured heart from close range".
  *Titles subject to change. Further information http://www.watershed.co.uk
  
  
• The Architecture Centre
  Sweet History / Sugar City
  October 2007 - March, 2008
  The Architecture Centre will work with young people to explore the impact of Bristol's sugar trade on the city's built environment, through the production of short films about buildings in the city, and the social and economic issues which had a bearing on their development. Young people (11 - 22 year olds) from the Archimedia project, who are involved the development of the Knowle West Media Centre, will carry out research and help develop an educational resource and website. The Architecture Centre will host a number of events to disseminate the work. The project has received a Heritage Lottery Fund Young Roots award.
  
  
• Picture This
  Down at the Bamboo Club
  Winter 2007 - Summer, 2008
  Decibel award-winning artist Harold Offeh will work with a team of artists and Bristol-based community groups to create moving image projects exploring the cultural impact and legacy of the slave trade and race relations across the city. Reflecting on the past and present but looking to the future the participatory projects will use re-enactment as a device to respond to the specific sites, and context of Bristol.
  
  
• Spike Island
  Right Track & Spike in the City
  As part of Spike Island's Spike in the City programme, the organisation will work with Right Track, The Children's Society project, to develop an ongoing, in-depth and sustained relationship around artists' practice. Right Track, works with young people between 10-17 years of age who are, or may become, involved with the criminal Justice system. Right Track aims to reduce the over-representation of black and minority ethnic young people in the youth justice system.
  
  Spike Island will commission a piece or body of work informed by the young people's interests, experiences and perspectives. They will select an artist to work with and will engage in a process of consultation and awareness-raising events to inform their involvement and exchange with the selected artist. Discussions around the national commemoration of the abolition of slavery will be a key starting point for a project.

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Further Information

www.kallaway.co.uk/bristolvisualarts.htm

Anna Cusden
Kallaway
020 7221 7883
anna.cusden@kallaway.co.uk


BRISTOL VISUAL ARTS CONSORTIUM (BVAC)
BVAC seeks to build a sustainable joint working relationship across visual arts organizations in Bristol and other associated partners that enhances networks and resources, enabling all parts of the visual arts ecology to play to its strengths and thrive.

Arnolfini
Arnolfini is one of Europe's leading centres for the contemporary arts. Presenting new and experimental work, the programme includes visual arts exhibitions, live art and performance, dance, cinema, literary readings and a busy education programme of tours, talks and events.
(http://www.arnolfini.org.uk)

Architecture Centre
The Architecture Centre is an independent organisation dedicated to the promotion and exploration of excellence in all aspects of the built environment. The Architecture Centre has developed strong education and public participation programmes which extend throughout the region, and hosts exhibitions, events, discussions, workshops and lectures at its building on Bristol's Harbourside.
(http://www.architecturecentre.co.uk)

Bristol's City Museum & Art Gallery
Bristol's major museum and art gallery houses an outstanding and diverse range of objects, from sea dragons to magnificent art. Home to artworks from the Old Masters to the Modern age and a significant natural history collection, it also offers a changing and dynamic temporary exhibition programme.
(www.bristol.gov.uk/museums)

Picture This
Drawing upon its unique understanding of moving image technology and contemporary art, Picture This produce and present projects engaging a diverse range of collaborators and audiences. A new flexible atelier space is geared both towards experiments in production and a public programme of exhibitions and events.
(http://www.picture-this.org.uk)

Spike Island
Spike Island is a leading national centre for the production and exhibition of contemporary art. Combining artist studio spaces, exhibition galleries, vibrant canteen/bar, associates programme, research facilities and an international residency programme, it is a unique hub for a broad range of visual arts practice, supporting emerging and established artists equally.
(http://www.spikeisland.org.uk)

Watershed
Watershed's culturally diverse programme is presented through its three cinemas, which bring world film and events to local audiences, and through dShed.net an online showcase of digital creativity.
(http://www.watershed.co.uk)


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