62 Gladstone Street: Opening Exhibition
62 GLADSTONE STREET
Peterborough, PE1 2BL
Kicking off a series of 2019 exhibitions are Peterborough artist Zain Awan and London / Berlin based artist Kazim Rashid (Pressure Makes Diamonds, Rich Mix 2018) alongside poet Zia Ahmed.
Kazim Rashid will exhibit a new, three part body of work which acts as a provocation, forcing us to ask ourselves what’s really going on in our communities. Kazim is interested in how we demystify each other’s experience and where the oppression of our values comes from. Part 1 is a self portrait, Part 2 is 'Notes to Self' series and Part 3 is 'Home' which responds to a poem of the same name by Zia Ahmed. Kazim’s previous work, 'Pressure Makes Diamonds', a multiscreen video installation will also be exhibited separately.
Zain Haider Awan will open with 'Once We Were Too'. The project expands on a lunch club hosted at the Allama Iqbal Centre in Peterborough in 2016, that brought together men - largely first wave migrants from Azad Kashmir - who settled in the UK. The lunch club saw senior men depart from masculine norms as they cooked, cleaned and ate together. The nostalgic retelling of these stories over food is what Zain observed as a volunteer at the lunch club, and was inspired to document.
“‘Once we were too’ uses poetry and photography to explore the experience of this first generation. It is a sincere attempt to present a more authentic picture of a misrepresented community and to reimagine what place and belonging mean in a modern city; through positioning the people who live in these spaces at the forefront of the discourse, we can re-examine their place.
By working closely with fellow British Pakistani photographer - Sarah Ali, we pay testament not only to the generation before us, but to begin a process of intergenerational dialogue. Understanding that 62 Gladstone Street is positioned in a critical part of the migrant community and the city, I wanted to ensure that the currency of experiences that flowed into the space were not detached from those that live and frequent the spaces that surround the gallery.”
Zain Haider Awan, A digital series will be launched to coincide with the exhibition launch, Creative Director / Producer: Zain Haider Awan, Photographers: Zain Haider Awan, Sarah Ali.
Zia Ahmed from North-West London is part of the London Laureates, having been shortlisted for London’s Young Poet Laureate 2015/16. He is a former Roundhouse Slam Champion and a Writer in Residence at Paines Plough as part of Channel 4’s Playwright Scheme 2017. He is currently part of the Bush Theatre's Emerging Writers Group and will open 62 Gladstone Street with a live performance.
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Find out more: 62gladstonestreet.co.uk
From 13 April 2019 to 15 June 2019