For the artist Ranti Bam, clay is a material that “tells a myriad of stories. You only have to go into museums and you see that all the clay and ceramic works there tell stories of ancient civilizations”. Bam describes her creative process as one that includes listening to the material by holding it close in her arms, using the material’s creative past and its energy to guide and shape her work. The exhibition, As Feeling Births Idea at Tiwani Contemporary, features her work created during the pandemic with black and red clay. Along with Bam, on display are works by five other artists - Virginia Chihota, Rita Alaoui, Euridice Zaituna Kala, Paula Do Prado, and Wura-Natasha Ogunji.
Bam’s work in this exhibition includes sculptures which she refers to as Ifa, the Nigerian word for the deity of wisdom and intellectual development. The enforced solitude of the pandemic led her work to turn towards the concepts of faith, devotion and ritual, and to channel her Nigerian heritage. While the exterior of these vessels is painted in one uniform colour, the inside is glazed and showcases streaks of different colours and shades, which seem to be melting into one another. For her, including these details on the inside allows the visitor to interact with her piece, coming closer to it and sharing the intimacy with it that she shared during their creation.
These vessels, for Bam, are “rooted in the semiotics of the feminine”, engaging with ideas of fragility, vulnerability, intimacy and beauty. The materials, the colours, and the details all come together to create a conversation around these ideas between Bam, the gallery and her audience. Her ideas in this way are not just restricted to her process of creating art but felt by her audience, allowing for communication with a large, diverse audience.
The concept behind this exhibition: As Feeling Births Idea comes from Audre Lorde's short essay, Poetry Is Not A Luxury (1977). In her essay, Lorde focuses on poetry as a means to express and reclaim ideas that women have been diminished from feeling for centuries. Bam’s work, in this exhibition, speaks to Lorde’s essay by bringing ideas of the feminine, including vulnerability and intimacy, into wider conversation. Her expression through art mirrors Lorde’s focus on poetry as a means for freedom to materialise that which has always been felt.
We sat down with Adelaide Bannerman, the Curatorial Director at Tiwani Contemporary, to discuss the exhibition and the process of materialising unconscious feelings through contemporary art:
Can you talk a bit about the process of putting this exhibition together? How did you select the artists and what led to the theme of the exhibition?
AB: I take my cues for shaping a show intuitively from the current research and practical interests of the artists. Thinking about these particularities and conversations reveals shared and contrasting contextualities that I think are interesting to bring together. As referenced in the exhibition text for As Feeling Births Idea, each of their practices synthesises differing corporeal, visceral and spiritual experiences to share with our audiences. The ‘poetics’ - meaning how each of the artists makes sense of and represents those experiences in their chosen materials, was of interest to bring into focus from artists that I’ve met and spent time with in different capacities over the last two years.
What does it mean to have this exhibition at the Gallery at this time? How does this exhibition speak to the previous ones at the Gallery?
AB: It means that we continue to be responsive and centre contemporary African and global African diasporic practices, theories and experiences, internationally and at our London and Lagos venues.
What were some of the constraints you had to deal with when developing the exhibition?
AB: Most artists are planning shows for different types of venues and settings, so the availability of themselves and their works needs to be established early. Logistically we work to establish what is possible to present (recent or new), and how many works can be exhibited, how the selected works inform the development of the exhibition premise, and where the works are being shipped from.
If the audience has one takeaway from this exhibition, what would you hope that is?
AB: If not known to them before, that they were introduced to some incredible artistic practices that they’d like to think and know more about and share. Artists help us navigate and think about the world at large and how we process our understanding of events and feelings.
With a strong focus on understanding the complexities behind ideas and feelings often experienced by women through their daily lives, this exhibition brings a focus on the power female artists hold. It is their dedication to the craft, their exploration of emotion and experimentation of material that helps us further navigate the world around us.
As Feeling Births Idea is showing at Tiwani Contemporary until 6th April.
For the artist Ranti Bam, clay is a material that “tells a myriad of stories. You only have to go into museums and you see that all the clay and ceramic works there tell stories of ancient civilizations”. Bam describes her creative process as one that includes listening to the material by holding it close in her arms, using the material’s creative past and its energy to guide and shape her work. The exhibition, As Feeling Births Idea at Tiwani Contemporary, features her work created during the pandemic with black and red clay. Along with Bam, on display are works by five other artists - Virginia Chihota, Rita Alaoui, Euridice Zaituna Kala, Paula Do Prado, and Wura-Natasha Ogunji.
Bam’s work in this exhibition includes sculptures which she refers to as Ifa, the Nigerian word for the deity of wisdom and intellectual development. The enforced solitude of the pandemic led her work to turn towards the concepts of faith, devotion and ritual, and to channel her Nigerian heritage. While the exterior of these vessels is painted in one uniform colour, the inside is glazed and showcases streaks of different colours and shades, which seem to be melting into one another. For her, including these details on the inside allows the visitor to interact with her piece, coming closer to it and sharing the intimacy with it that she shared during their creation.
These vessels, for Bam, are “rooted in the semiotics of the feminine”, engaging with ideas of fragility, vulnerability, intimacy and beauty. The materials, the colours, and the details all come together to create a conversation around these ideas between Bam, the gallery and her audience. Her ideas in this way are not just restricted to her process of creating art but felt by her audience, allowing for communication with a large, diverse audience.
The concept behind this exhibition: As Feeling Births Idea comes from Audre Lorde's short essay, Poetry Is Not A Luxury (1977). In her essay, Lorde focuses on poetry as a means to express and reclaim ideas that women have been diminished from feeling for centuries. Bam’s work, in this exhibition, speaks to Lorde’s essay by bringing ideas of the feminine, including vulnerability and intimacy, into wider conversation. Her expression through art mirrors Lorde’s focus on poetry as a means for freedom to materialise that which has always been felt.
We sat down with Adelaide Bannerman, the Curatorial Director at Tiwani Contemporary, to discuss the exhibition and the process of materialising unconscious feelings through contemporary art:
Can you talk a bit about the process of putting this exhibition together? How did you select the artists and what led to the theme of the exhibition?
AB: I take my cues for shaping a show intuitively from the current research and practical interests of the artists. Thinking about these particularities and conversations reveals shared and contrasting contextualities that I think are interesting to bring together. As referenced in the exhibition text for As Feeling Births Idea, each of their practices synthesises differing corporeal, visceral and spiritual experiences to share with our audiences. The ‘poetics’ - meaning how each of the artists makes sense of and represents those experiences in their chosen materials, was of interest to bring into focus from artists that I’ve met and spent time with in different capacities over the last two years.
What does it mean to have this exhibition at the Gallery at this time? How does this exhibition speak to the previous ones at the Gallery?
AB: It means that we continue to be responsive and centre contemporary African and global African diasporic practices, theories and experiences, internationally and at our London and Lagos venues.
What were some of the constraints you had to deal with when developing the exhibition?
AB: Most artists are planning shows for different types of venues and settings, so the availability of themselves and their works needs to be established early. Logistically we work to establish what is possible to present (recent or new), and how many works can be exhibited, how the selected works inform the development of the exhibition premise, and where the works are being shipped from.
If the audience has one takeaway from this exhibition, what would you hope that is?
AB: If not known to them before, that they were introduced to some incredible artistic practices that they’d like to think and know more about and share. Artists help us navigate and think about the world at large and how we process our understanding of events and feelings.
With a strong focus on understanding the complexities behind ideas and feelings often experienced by women through their daily lives, this exhibition brings a focus on the power female artists hold. It is their dedication to the craft, their exploration of emotion and experimentation of material that helps us further navigate the world around us.
As Feeling Births Idea is showing at Tiwani Contemporary until 6th April.
For the artist Ranti Bam, clay is a material that “tells a myriad of stories. You only have to go into museums and you see that all the clay and ceramic works there tell stories of ancient civilizations”. Bam describes her creative process as one that includes listening to the material by holding it close in her arms, using the material’s creative past and its energy to guide and shape her work. The exhibition, As Feeling Births Idea at Tiwani Contemporary, features her work created during the pandemic with black and red clay. Along with Bam, on display are works by five other artists - Virginia Chihota, Rita Alaoui, Euridice Zaituna Kala, Paula Do Prado, and Wura-Natasha Ogunji.
Bam’s work in this exhibition includes sculptures which she refers to as Ifa, the Nigerian word for the deity of wisdom and intellectual development. The enforced solitude of the pandemic led her work to turn towards the concepts of faith, devotion and ritual, and to channel her Nigerian heritage. While the exterior of these vessels is painted in one uniform colour, the inside is glazed and showcases streaks of different colours and shades, which seem to be melting into one another. For her, including these details on the inside allows the visitor to interact with her piece, coming closer to it and sharing the intimacy with it that she shared during their creation.
These vessels, for Bam, are “rooted in the semiotics of the feminine”, engaging with ideas of fragility, vulnerability, intimacy and beauty. The materials, the colours, and the details all come together to create a conversation around these ideas between Bam, the gallery and her audience. Her ideas in this way are not just restricted to her process of creating art but felt by her audience, allowing for communication with a large, diverse audience.
The concept behind this exhibition: As Feeling Births Idea comes from Audre Lorde's short essay, Poetry Is Not A Luxury (1977). In her essay, Lorde focuses on poetry as a means to express and reclaim ideas that women have been diminished from feeling for centuries. Bam’s work, in this exhibition, speaks to Lorde’s essay by bringing ideas of the feminine, including vulnerability and intimacy, into wider conversation. Her expression through art mirrors Lorde’s focus on poetry as a means for freedom to materialise that which has always been felt.
We sat down with Adelaide Bannerman, the Curatorial Director at Tiwani Contemporary, to discuss the exhibition and the process of materialising unconscious feelings through contemporary art:
Can you talk a bit about the process of putting this exhibition together? How did you select the artists and what led to the theme of the exhibition?
AB: I take my cues for shaping a show intuitively from the current research and practical interests of the artists. Thinking about these particularities and conversations reveals shared and contrasting contextualities that I think are interesting to bring together. As referenced in the exhibition text for As Feeling Births Idea, each of their practices synthesises differing corporeal, visceral and spiritual experiences to share with our audiences. The ‘poetics’ - meaning how each of the artists makes sense of and represents those experiences in their chosen materials, was of interest to bring into focus from artists that I’ve met and spent time with in different capacities over the last two years.
What does it mean to have this exhibition at the Gallery at this time? How does this exhibition speak to the previous ones at the Gallery?
AB: It means that we continue to be responsive and centre contemporary African and global African diasporic practices, theories and experiences, internationally and at our London and Lagos venues.
What were some of the constraints you had to deal with when developing the exhibition?
AB: Most artists are planning shows for different types of venues and settings, so the availability of themselves and their works needs to be established early. Logistically we work to establish what is possible to present (recent or new), and how many works can be exhibited, how the selected works inform the development of the exhibition premise, and where the works are being shipped from.
If the audience has one takeaway from this exhibition, what would you hope that is?
AB: If not known to them before, that they were introduced to some incredible artistic practices that they’d like to think and know more about and share. Artists help us navigate and think about the world at large and how we process our understanding of events and feelings.
With a strong focus on understanding the complexities behind ideas and feelings often experienced by women through their daily lives, this exhibition brings a focus on the power female artists hold. It is their dedication to the craft, their exploration of emotion and experimentation of material that helps us further navigate the world around us.
As Feeling Births Idea is showing at Tiwani Contemporary until 6th April.
For the artist Ranti Bam, clay is a material that “tells a myriad of stories. You only have to go into museums and you see that all the clay and ceramic works there tell stories of ancient civilizations”. Bam describes her creative process as one that includes listening to the material by holding it close in her arms, using the material’s creative past and its energy to guide and shape her work. The exhibition, As Feeling Births Idea at Tiwani Contemporary, features her work created during the pandemic with black and red clay. Along with Bam, on display are works by five other artists - Virginia Chihota, Rita Alaoui, Euridice Zaituna Kala, Paula Do Prado, and Wura-Natasha Ogunji.
Bam’s work in this exhibition includes sculptures which she refers to as Ifa, the Nigerian word for the deity of wisdom and intellectual development. The enforced solitude of the pandemic led her work to turn towards the concepts of faith, devotion and ritual, and to channel her Nigerian heritage. While the exterior of these vessels is painted in one uniform colour, the inside is glazed and showcases streaks of different colours and shades, which seem to be melting into one another. For her, including these details on the inside allows the visitor to interact with her piece, coming closer to it and sharing the intimacy with it that she shared during their creation.
These vessels, for Bam, are “rooted in the semiotics of the feminine”, engaging with ideas of fragility, vulnerability, intimacy and beauty. The materials, the colours, and the details all come together to create a conversation around these ideas between Bam, the gallery and her audience. Her ideas in this way are not just restricted to her process of creating art but felt by her audience, allowing for communication with a large, diverse audience.
The concept behind this exhibition: As Feeling Births Idea comes from Audre Lorde's short essay, Poetry Is Not A Luxury (1977). In her essay, Lorde focuses on poetry as a means to express and reclaim ideas that women have been diminished from feeling for centuries. Bam’s work, in this exhibition, speaks to Lorde’s essay by bringing ideas of the feminine, including vulnerability and intimacy, into wider conversation. Her expression through art mirrors Lorde’s focus on poetry as a means for freedom to materialise that which has always been felt.
We sat down with Adelaide Bannerman, the Curatorial Director at Tiwani Contemporary, to discuss the exhibition and the process of materialising unconscious feelings through contemporary art:
Can you talk a bit about the process of putting this exhibition together? How did you select the artists and what led to the theme of the exhibition?
AB: I take my cues for shaping a show intuitively from the current research and practical interests of the artists. Thinking about these particularities and conversations reveals shared and contrasting contextualities that I think are interesting to bring together. As referenced in the exhibition text for As Feeling Births Idea, each of their practices synthesises differing corporeal, visceral and spiritual experiences to share with our audiences. The ‘poetics’ - meaning how each of the artists makes sense of and represents those experiences in their chosen materials, was of interest to bring into focus from artists that I’ve met and spent time with in different capacities over the last two years.
What does it mean to have this exhibition at the Gallery at this time? How does this exhibition speak to the previous ones at the Gallery?
AB: It means that we continue to be responsive and centre contemporary African and global African diasporic practices, theories and experiences, internationally and at our London and Lagos venues.
What were some of the constraints you had to deal with when developing the exhibition?
AB: Most artists are planning shows for different types of venues and settings, so the availability of themselves and their works needs to be established early. Logistically we work to establish what is possible to present (recent or new), and how many works can be exhibited, how the selected works inform the development of the exhibition premise, and where the works are being shipped from.
If the audience has one takeaway from this exhibition, what would you hope that is?
AB: If not known to them before, that they were introduced to some incredible artistic practices that they’d like to think and know more about and share. Artists help us navigate and think about the world at large and how we process our understanding of events and feelings.
With a strong focus on understanding the complexities behind ideas and feelings often experienced by women through their daily lives, this exhibition brings a focus on the power female artists hold. It is their dedication to the craft, their exploration of emotion and experimentation of material that helps us further navigate the world around us.
As Feeling Births Idea is showing at Tiwani Contemporary until 6th April.
For the artist Ranti Bam, clay is a material that “tells a myriad of stories. You only have to go into museums and you see that all the clay and ceramic works there tell stories of ancient civilizations”. Bam describes her creative process as one that includes listening to the material by holding it close in her arms, using the material’s creative past and its energy to guide and shape her work. The exhibition, As Feeling Births Idea at Tiwani Contemporary, features her work created during the pandemic with black and red clay. Along with Bam, on display are works by five other artists - Virginia Chihota, Rita Alaoui, Euridice Zaituna Kala, Paula Do Prado, and Wura-Natasha Ogunji.
Bam’s work in this exhibition includes sculptures which she refers to as Ifa, the Nigerian word for the deity of wisdom and intellectual development. The enforced solitude of the pandemic led her work to turn towards the concepts of faith, devotion and ritual, and to channel her Nigerian heritage. While the exterior of these vessels is painted in one uniform colour, the inside is glazed and showcases streaks of different colours and shades, which seem to be melting into one another. For her, including these details on the inside allows the visitor to interact with her piece, coming closer to it and sharing the intimacy with it that she shared during their creation.
These vessels, for Bam, are “rooted in the semiotics of the feminine”, engaging with ideas of fragility, vulnerability, intimacy and beauty. The materials, the colours, and the details all come together to create a conversation around these ideas between Bam, the gallery and her audience. Her ideas in this way are not just restricted to her process of creating art but felt by her audience, allowing for communication with a large, diverse audience.
The concept behind this exhibition: As Feeling Births Idea comes from Audre Lorde's short essay, Poetry Is Not A Luxury (1977). In her essay, Lorde focuses on poetry as a means to express and reclaim ideas that women have been diminished from feeling for centuries. Bam’s work, in this exhibition, speaks to Lorde’s essay by bringing ideas of the feminine, including vulnerability and intimacy, into wider conversation. Her expression through art mirrors Lorde’s focus on poetry as a means for freedom to materialise that which has always been felt.
We sat down with Adelaide Bannerman, the Curatorial Director at Tiwani Contemporary, to discuss the exhibition and the process of materialising unconscious feelings through contemporary art:
Can you talk a bit about the process of putting this exhibition together? How did you select the artists and what led to the theme of the exhibition?
AB: I take my cues for shaping a show intuitively from the current research and practical interests of the artists. Thinking about these particularities and conversations reveals shared and contrasting contextualities that I think are interesting to bring together. As referenced in the exhibition text for As Feeling Births Idea, each of their practices synthesises differing corporeal, visceral and spiritual experiences to share with our audiences. The ‘poetics’ - meaning how each of the artists makes sense of and represents those experiences in their chosen materials, was of interest to bring into focus from artists that I’ve met and spent time with in different capacities over the last two years.
What does it mean to have this exhibition at the Gallery at this time? How does this exhibition speak to the previous ones at the Gallery?
AB: It means that we continue to be responsive and centre contemporary African and global African diasporic practices, theories and experiences, internationally and at our London and Lagos venues.
What were some of the constraints you had to deal with when developing the exhibition?
AB: Most artists are planning shows for different types of venues and settings, so the availability of themselves and their works needs to be established early. Logistically we work to establish what is possible to present (recent or new), and how many works can be exhibited, how the selected works inform the development of the exhibition premise, and where the works are being shipped from.
If the audience has one takeaway from this exhibition, what would you hope that is?
AB: If not known to them before, that they were introduced to some incredible artistic practices that they’d like to think and know more about and share. Artists help us navigate and think about the world at large and how we process our understanding of events and feelings.
With a strong focus on understanding the complexities behind ideas and feelings often experienced by women through their daily lives, this exhibition brings a focus on the power female artists hold. It is their dedication to the craft, their exploration of emotion and experimentation of material that helps us further navigate the world around us.
As Feeling Births Idea is showing at Tiwani Contemporary until 6th April.
For the artist Ranti Bam, clay is a material that “tells a myriad of stories. You only have to go into museums and you see that all the clay and ceramic works there tell stories of ancient civilizations”. Bam describes her creative process as one that includes listening to the material by holding it close in her arms, using the material’s creative past and its energy to guide and shape her work. The exhibition, As Feeling Births Idea at Tiwani Contemporary, features her work created during the pandemic with black and red clay. Along with Bam, on display are works by five other artists - Virginia Chihota, Rita Alaoui, Euridice Zaituna Kala, Paula Do Prado, and Wura-Natasha Ogunji.
Bam’s work in this exhibition includes sculptures which she refers to as Ifa, the Nigerian word for the deity of wisdom and intellectual development. The enforced solitude of the pandemic led her work to turn towards the concepts of faith, devotion and ritual, and to channel her Nigerian heritage. While the exterior of these vessels is painted in one uniform colour, the inside is glazed and showcases streaks of different colours and shades, which seem to be melting into one another. For her, including these details on the inside allows the visitor to interact with her piece, coming closer to it and sharing the intimacy with it that she shared during their creation.
These vessels, for Bam, are “rooted in the semiotics of the feminine”, engaging with ideas of fragility, vulnerability, intimacy and beauty. The materials, the colours, and the details all come together to create a conversation around these ideas between Bam, the gallery and her audience. Her ideas in this way are not just restricted to her process of creating art but felt by her audience, allowing for communication with a large, diverse audience.
The concept behind this exhibition: As Feeling Births Idea comes from Audre Lorde's short essay, Poetry Is Not A Luxury (1977). In her essay, Lorde focuses on poetry as a means to express and reclaim ideas that women have been diminished from feeling for centuries. Bam’s work, in this exhibition, speaks to Lorde’s essay by bringing ideas of the feminine, including vulnerability and intimacy, into wider conversation. Her expression through art mirrors Lorde’s focus on poetry as a means for freedom to materialise that which has always been felt.
We sat down with Adelaide Bannerman, the Curatorial Director at Tiwani Contemporary, to discuss the exhibition and the process of materialising unconscious feelings through contemporary art:
Can you talk a bit about the process of putting this exhibition together? How did you select the artists and what led to the theme of the exhibition?
AB: I take my cues for shaping a show intuitively from the current research and practical interests of the artists. Thinking about these particularities and conversations reveals shared and contrasting contextualities that I think are interesting to bring together. As referenced in the exhibition text for As Feeling Births Idea, each of their practices synthesises differing corporeal, visceral and spiritual experiences to share with our audiences. The ‘poetics’ - meaning how each of the artists makes sense of and represents those experiences in their chosen materials, was of interest to bring into focus from artists that I’ve met and spent time with in different capacities over the last two years.
What does it mean to have this exhibition at the Gallery at this time? How does this exhibition speak to the previous ones at the Gallery?
AB: It means that we continue to be responsive and centre contemporary African and global African diasporic practices, theories and experiences, internationally and at our London and Lagos venues.
What were some of the constraints you had to deal with when developing the exhibition?
AB: Most artists are planning shows for different types of venues and settings, so the availability of themselves and their works needs to be established early. Logistically we work to establish what is possible to present (recent or new), and how many works can be exhibited, how the selected works inform the development of the exhibition premise, and where the works are being shipped from.
If the audience has one takeaway from this exhibition, what would you hope that is?
AB: If not known to them before, that they were introduced to some incredible artistic practices that they’d like to think and know more about and share. Artists help us navigate and think about the world at large and how we process our understanding of events and feelings.
With a strong focus on understanding the complexities behind ideas and feelings often experienced by women through their daily lives, this exhibition brings a focus on the power female artists hold. It is their dedication to the craft, their exploration of emotion and experimentation of material that helps us further navigate the world around us.
As Feeling Births Idea is showing at Tiwani Contemporary until 6th April.
For the artist Ranti Bam, clay is a material that “tells a myriad of stories. You only have to go into museums and you see that all the clay and ceramic works there tell stories of ancient civilizations”. Bam describes her creative process as one that includes listening to the material by holding it close in her arms, using the material’s creative past and its energy to guide and shape her work. The exhibition, As Feeling Births Idea at Tiwani Contemporary, features her work created during the pandemic with black and red clay. Along with Bam, on display are works by five other artists - Virginia Chihota, Rita Alaoui, Euridice Zaituna Kala, Paula Do Prado, and Wura-Natasha Ogunji.
Bam’s work in this exhibition includes sculptures which she refers to as Ifa, the Nigerian word for the deity of wisdom and intellectual development. The enforced solitude of the pandemic led her work to turn towards the concepts of faith, devotion and ritual, and to channel her Nigerian heritage. While the exterior of these vessels is painted in one uniform colour, the inside is glazed and showcases streaks of different colours and shades, which seem to be melting into one another. For her, including these details on the inside allows the visitor to interact with her piece, coming closer to it and sharing the intimacy with it that she shared during their creation.
These vessels, for Bam, are “rooted in the semiotics of the feminine”, engaging with ideas of fragility, vulnerability, intimacy and beauty. The materials, the colours, and the details all come together to create a conversation around these ideas between Bam, the gallery and her audience. Her ideas in this way are not just restricted to her process of creating art but felt by her audience, allowing for communication with a large, diverse audience.
The concept behind this exhibition: As Feeling Births Idea comes from Audre Lorde's short essay, Poetry Is Not A Luxury (1977). In her essay, Lorde focuses on poetry as a means to express and reclaim ideas that women have been diminished from feeling for centuries. Bam’s work, in this exhibition, speaks to Lorde’s essay by bringing ideas of the feminine, including vulnerability and intimacy, into wider conversation. Her expression through art mirrors Lorde’s focus on poetry as a means for freedom to materialise that which has always been felt.
We sat down with Adelaide Bannerman, the Curatorial Director at Tiwani Contemporary, to discuss the exhibition and the process of materialising unconscious feelings through contemporary art:
Can you talk a bit about the process of putting this exhibition together? How did you select the artists and what led to the theme of the exhibition?
AB: I take my cues for shaping a show intuitively from the current research and practical interests of the artists. Thinking about these particularities and conversations reveals shared and contrasting contextualities that I think are interesting to bring together. As referenced in the exhibition text for As Feeling Births Idea, each of their practices synthesises differing corporeal, visceral and spiritual experiences to share with our audiences. The ‘poetics’ - meaning how each of the artists makes sense of and represents those experiences in their chosen materials, was of interest to bring into focus from artists that I’ve met and spent time with in different capacities over the last two years.
What does it mean to have this exhibition at the Gallery at this time? How does this exhibition speak to the previous ones at the Gallery?
AB: It means that we continue to be responsive and centre contemporary African and global African diasporic practices, theories and experiences, internationally and at our London and Lagos venues.
What were some of the constraints you had to deal with when developing the exhibition?
AB: Most artists are planning shows for different types of venues and settings, so the availability of themselves and their works needs to be established early. Logistically we work to establish what is possible to present (recent or new), and how many works can be exhibited, how the selected works inform the development of the exhibition premise, and where the works are being shipped from.
If the audience has one takeaway from this exhibition, what would you hope that is?
AB: If not known to them before, that they were introduced to some incredible artistic practices that they’d like to think and know more about and share. Artists help us navigate and think about the world at large and how we process our understanding of events and feelings.
With a strong focus on understanding the complexities behind ideas and feelings often experienced by women through their daily lives, this exhibition brings a focus on the power female artists hold. It is their dedication to the craft, their exploration of emotion and experimentation of material that helps us further navigate the world around us.
As Feeling Births Idea is showing at Tiwani Contemporary until 6th April.
For the artist Ranti Bam, clay is a material that “tells a myriad of stories. You only have to go into museums and you see that all the clay and ceramic works there tell stories of ancient civilizations”. Bam describes her creative process as one that includes listening to the material by holding it close in her arms, using the material’s creative past and its energy to guide and shape her work. The exhibition, As Feeling Births Idea at Tiwani Contemporary, features her work created during the pandemic with black and red clay. Along with Bam, on display are works by five other artists - Virginia Chihota, Rita Alaoui, Euridice Zaituna Kala, Paula Do Prado, and Wura-Natasha Ogunji.
Bam’s work in this exhibition includes sculptures which she refers to as Ifa, the Nigerian word for the deity of wisdom and intellectual development. The enforced solitude of the pandemic led her work to turn towards the concepts of faith, devotion and ritual, and to channel her Nigerian heritage. While the exterior of these vessels is painted in one uniform colour, the inside is glazed and showcases streaks of different colours and shades, which seem to be melting into one another. For her, including these details on the inside allows the visitor to interact with her piece, coming closer to it and sharing the intimacy with it that she shared during their creation.
These vessels, for Bam, are “rooted in the semiotics of the feminine”, engaging with ideas of fragility, vulnerability, intimacy and beauty. The materials, the colours, and the details all come together to create a conversation around these ideas between Bam, the gallery and her audience. Her ideas in this way are not just restricted to her process of creating art but felt by her audience, allowing for communication with a large, diverse audience.
The concept behind this exhibition: As Feeling Births Idea comes from Audre Lorde's short essay, Poetry Is Not A Luxury (1977). In her essay, Lorde focuses on poetry as a means to express and reclaim ideas that women have been diminished from feeling for centuries. Bam’s work, in this exhibition, speaks to Lorde’s essay by bringing ideas of the feminine, including vulnerability and intimacy, into wider conversation. Her expression through art mirrors Lorde’s focus on poetry as a means for freedom to materialise that which has always been felt.
We sat down with Adelaide Bannerman, the Curatorial Director at Tiwani Contemporary, to discuss the exhibition and the process of materialising unconscious feelings through contemporary art:
Can you talk a bit about the process of putting this exhibition together? How did you select the artists and what led to the theme of the exhibition?
AB: I take my cues for shaping a show intuitively from the current research and practical interests of the artists. Thinking about these particularities and conversations reveals shared and contrasting contextualities that I think are interesting to bring together. As referenced in the exhibition text for As Feeling Births Idea, each of their practices synthesises differing corporeal, visceral and spiritual experiences to share with our audiences. The ‘poetics’ - meaning how each of the artists makes sense of and represents those experiences in their chosen materials, was of interest to bring into focus from artists that I’ve met and spent time with in different capacities over the last two years.
What does it mean to have this exhibition at the Gallery at this time? How does this exhibition speak to the previous ones at the Gallery?
AB: It means that we continue to be responsive and centre contemporary African and global African diasporic practices, theories and experiences, internationally and at our London and Lagos venues.
What were some of the constraints you had to deal with when developing the exhibition?
AB: Most artists are planning shows for different types of venues and settings, so the availability of themselves and their works needs to be established early. Logistically we work to establish what is possible to present (recent or new), and how many works can be exhibited, how the selected works inform the development of the exhibition premise, and where the works are being shipped from.
If the audience has one takeaway from this exhibition, what would you hope that is?
AB: If not known to them before, that they were introduced to some incredible artistic practices that they’d like to think and know more about and share. Artists help us navigate and think about the world at large and how we process our understanding of events and feelings.
With a strong focus on understanding the complexities behind ideas and feelings often experienced by women through their daily lives, this exhibition brings a focus on the power female artists hold. It is their dedication to the craft, their exploration of emotion and experimentation of material that helps us further navigate the world around us.
As Feeling Births Idea is showing at Tiwani Contemporary until 6th April.
For the artist Ranti Bam, clay is a material that “tells a myriad of stories. You only have to go into museums and you see that all the clay and ceramic works there tell stories of ancient civilizations”. Bam describes her creative process as one that includes listening to the material by holding it close in her arms, using the material’s creative past and its energy to guide and shape her work. The exhibition, As Feeling Births Idea at Tiwani Contemporary, features her work created during the pandemic with black and red clay. Along with Bam, on display are works by five other artists - Virginia Chihota, Rita Alaoui, Euridice Zaituna Kala, Paula Do Prado, and Wura-Natasha Ogunji.
Bam’s work in this exhibition includes sculptures which she refers to as Ifa, the Nigerian word for the deity of wisdom and intellectual development. The enforced solitude of the pandemic led her work to turn towards the concepts of faith, devotion and ritual, and to channel her Nigerian heritage. While the exterior of these vessels is painted in one uniform colour, the inside is glazed and showcases streaks of different colours and shades, which seem to be melting into one another. For her, including these details on the inside allows the visitor to interact with her piece, coming closer to it and sharing the intimacy with it that she shared during their creation.
These vessels, for Bam, are “rooted in the semiotics of the feminine”, engaging with ideas of fragility, vulnerability, intimacy and beauty. The materials, the colours, and the details all come together to create a conversation around these ideas between Bam, the gallery and her audience. Her ideas in this way are not just restricted to her process of creating art but felt by her audience, allowing for communication with a large, diverse audience.
The concept behind this exhibition: As Feeling Births Idea comes from Audre Lorde's short essay, Poetry Is Not A Luxury (1977). In her essay, Lorde focuses on poetry as a means to express and reclaim ideas that women have been diminished from feeling for centuries. Bam’s work, in this exhibition, speaks to Lorde’s essay by bringing ideas of the feminine, including vulnerability and intimacy, into wider conversation. Her expression through art mirrors Lorde’s focus on poetry as a means for freedom to materialise that which has always been felt.
We sat down with Adelaide Bannerman, the Curatorial Director at Tiwani Contemporary, to discuss the exhibition and the process of materialising unconscious feelings through contemporary art:
Can you talk a bit about the process of putting this exhibition together? How did you select the artists and what led to the theme of the exhibition?
AB: I take my cues for shaping a show intuitively from the current research and practical interests of the artists. Thinking about these particularities and conversations reveals shared and contrasting contextualities that I think are interesting to bring together. As referenced in the exhibition text for As Feeling Births Idea, each of their practices synthesises differing corporeal, visceral and spiritual experiences to share with our audiences. The ‘poetics’ - meaning how each of the artists makes sense of and represents those experiences in their chosen materials, was of interest to bring into focus from artists that I’ve met and spent time with in different capacities over the last two years.
What does it mean to have this exhibition at the Gallery at this time? How does this exhibition speak to the previous ones at the Gallery?
AB: It means that we continue to be responsive and centre contemporary African and global African diasporic practices, theories and experiences, internationally and at our London and Lagos venues.
What were some of the constraints you had to deal with when developing the exhibition?
AB: Most artists are planning shows for different types of venues and settings, so the availability of themselves and their works needs to be established early. Logistically we work to establish what is possible to present (recent or new), and how many works can be exhibited, how the selected works inform the development of the exhibition premise, and where the works are being shipped from.
If the audience has one takeaway from this exhibition, what would you hope that is?
AB: If not known to them before, that they were introduced to some incredible artistic practices that they’d like to think and know more about and share. Artists help us navigate and think about the world at large and how we process our understanding of events and feelings.
With a strong focus on understanding the complexities behind ideas and feelings often experienced by women through their daily lives, this exhibition brings a focus on the power female artists hold. It is their dedication to the craft, their exploration of emotion and experimentation of material that helps us further navigate the world around us.
As Feeling Births Idea is showing at Tiwani Contemporary until 6th April.
For the artist Ranti Bam, clay is a material that “tells a myriad of stories. You only have to go into museums and you see that all the clay and ceramic works there tell stories of ancient civilizations”. Bam describes her creative process as one that includes listening to the material by holding it close in her arms, using the material’s creative past and its energy to guide and shape her work. The exhibition, As Feeling Births Idea at Tiwani Contemporary, features her work created during the pandemic with black and red clay. Along with Bam, on display are works by five other artists - Virginia Chihota, Rita Alaoui, Euridice Zaituna Kala, Paula Do Prado, and Wura-Natasha Ogunji.
Bam’s work in this exhibition includes sculptures which she refers to as Ifa, the Nigerian word for the deity of wisdom and intellectual development. The enforced solitude of the pandemic led her work to turn towards the concepts of faith, devotion and ritual, and to channel her Nigerian heritage. While the exterior of these vessels is painted in one uniform colour, the inside is glazed and showcases streaks of different colours and shades, which seem to be melting into one another. For her, including these details on the inside allows the visitor to interact with her piece, coming closer to it and sharing the intimacy with it that she shared during their creation.
These vessels, for Bam, are “rooted in the semiotics of the feminine”, engaging with ideas of fragility, vulnerability, intimacy and beauty. The materials, the colours, and the details all come together to create a conversation around these ideas between Bam, the gallery and her audience. Her ideas in this way are not just restricted to her process of creating art but felt by her audience, allowing for communication with a large, diverse audience.
The concept behind this exhibition: As Feeling Births Idea comes from Audre Lorde's short essay, Poetry Is Not A Luxury (1977). In her essay, Lorde focuses on poetry as a means to express and reclaim ideas that women have been diminished from feeling for centuries. Bam’s work, in this exhibition, speaks to Lorde’s essay by bringing ideas of the feminine, including vulnerability and intimacy, into wider conversation. Her expression through art mirrors Lorde’s focus on poetry as a means for freedom to materialise that which has always been felt.
We sat down with Adelaide Bannerman, the Curatorial Director at Tiwani Contemporary, to discuss the exhibition and the process of materialising unconscious feelings through contemporary art:
Can you talk a bit about the process of putting this exhibition together? How did you select the artists and what led to the theme of the exhibition?
AB: I take my cues for shaping a show intuitively from the current research and practical interests of the artists. Thinking about these particularities and conversations reveals shared and contrasting contextualities that I think are interesting to bring together. As referenced in the exhibition text for As Feeling Births Idea, each of their practices synthesises differing corporeal, visceral and spiritual experiences to share with our audiences. The ‘poetics’ - meaning how each of the artists makes sense of and represents those experiences in their chosen materials, was of interest to bring into focus from artists that I’ve met and spent time with in different capacities over the last two years.
What does it mean to have this exhibition at the Gallery at this time? How does this exhibition speak to the previous ones at the Gallery?
AB: It means that we continue to be responsive and centre contemporary African and global African diasporic practices, theories and experiences, internationally and at our London and Lagos venues.
What were some of the constraints you had to deal with when developing the exhibition?
AB: Most artists are planning shows for different types of venues and settings, so the availability of themselves and their works needs to be established early. Logistically we work to establish what is possible to present (recent or new), and how many works can be exhibited, how the selected works inform the development of the exhibition premise, and where the works are being shipped from.
If the audience has one takeaway from this exhibition, what would you hope that is?
AB: If not known to them before, that they were introduced to some incredible artistic practices that they’d like to think and know more about and share. Artists help us navigate and think about the world at large and how we process our understanding of events and feelings.
With a strong focus on understanding the complexities behind ideas and feelings often experienced by women through their daily lives, this exhibition brings a focus on the power female artists hold. It is their dedication to the craft, their exploration of emotion and experimentation of material that helps us further navigate the world around us.
As Feeling Births Idea is showing at Tiwani Contemporary until 6th April.
For the artist Ranti Bam, clay is a material that “tells a myriad of stories. You only have to go into museums and you see that all the clay and ceramic works there tell stories of ancient civilizations”. Bam describes her creative process as one that includes listening to the material by holding it close in her arms, using the material’s creative past and its energy to guide and shape her work. The exhibition, As Feeling Births Idea at Tiwani Contemporary, features her work created during the pandemic with black and red clay. Along with Bam, on display are works by five other artists - Virginia Chihota, Rita Alaoui, Euridice Zaituna Kala, Paula Do Prado, and Wura-Natasha Ogunji.
Bam’s work in this exhibition includes sculptures which she refers to as Ifa, the Nigerian word for the deity of wisdom and intellectual development. The enforced solitude of the pandemic led her work to turn towards the concepts of faith, devotion and ritual, and to channel her Nigerian heritage. While the exterior of these vessels is painted in one uniform colour, the inside is glazed and showcases streaks of different colours and shades, which seem to be melting into one another. For her, including these details on the inside allows the visitor to interact with her piece, coming closer to it and sharing the intimacy with it that she shared during their creation.
These vessels, for Bam, are “rooted in the semiotics of the feminine”, engaging with ideas of fragility, vulnerability, intimacy and beauty. The materials, the colours, and the details all come together to create a conversation around these ideas between Bam, the gallery and her audience. Her ideas in this way are not just restricted to her process of creating art but felt by her audience, allowing for communication with a large, diverse audience.
The concept behind this exhibition: As Feeling Births Idea comes from Audre Lorde's short essay, Poetry Is Not A Luxury (1977). In her essay, Lorde focuses on poetry as a means to express and reclaim ideas that women have been diminished from feeling for centuries. Bam’s work, in this exhibition, speaks to Lorde’s essay by bringing ideas of the feminine, including vulnerability and intimacy, into wider conversation. Her expression through art mirrors Lorde’s focus on poetry as a means for freedom to materialise that which has always been felt.
We sat down with Adelaide Bannerman, the Curatorial Director at Tiwani Contemporary, to discuss the exhibition and the process of materialising unconscious feelings through contemporary art:
Can you talk a bit about the process of putting this exhibition together? How did you select the artists and what led to the theme of the exhibition?
AB: I take my cues for shaping a show intuitively from the current research and practical interests of the artists. Thinking about these particularities and conversations reveals shared and contrasting contextualities that I think are interesting to bring together. As referenced in the exhibition text for As Feeling Births Idea, each of their practices synthesises differing corporeal, visceral and spiritual experiences to share with our audiences. The ‘poetics’ - meaning how each of the artists makes sense of and represents those experiences in their chosen materials, was of interest to bring into focus from artists that I’ve met and spent time with in different capacities over the last two years.
What does it mean to have this exhibition at the Gallery at this time? How does this exhibition speak to the previous ones at the Gallery?
AB: It means that we continue to be responsive and centre contemporary African and global African diasporic practices, theories and experiences, internationally and at our London and Lagos venues.
What were some of the constraints you had to deal with when developing the exhibition?
AB: Most artists are planning shows for different types of venues and settings, so the availability of themselves and their works needs to be established early. Logistically we work to establish what is possible to present (recent or new), and how many works can be exhibited, how the selected works inform the development of the exhibition premise, and where the works are being shipped from.
If the audience has one takeaway from this exhibition, what would you hope that is?
AB: If not known to them before, that they were introduced to some incredible artistic practices that they’d like to think and know more about and share. Artists help us navigate and think about the world at large and how we process our understanding of events and feelings.
With a strong focus on understanding the complexities behind ideas and feelings often experienced by women through their daily lives, this exhibition brings a focus on the power female artists hold. It is their dedication to the craft, their exploration of emotion and experimentation of material that helps us further navigate the world around us.
As Feeling Births Idea is showing at Tiwani Contemporary until 6th April.
