FORMAT21: Here, There and Everywhere
Virtual Exhibition
QUAD GALLERY
Market Place, Derby, DE1 3AS
FORMAT21: Here, There and Everywhere
QUAD Gallery
Installation View, Photo: V21 Artspace
© The Artists, Courtesy Format International Photography Festival and QUAD Gallery
Virtual Exhibition Tour
Here, There and Everywhere
Anthony Bila (South Africa), Uzoma Chidumaga Orji (Nigeria), Sipho Gongxeka (South Africa) were selected via a pan-African open-call for their visionary work dealing with complex, socio-political issues; representations of the digital, Queer daily life in townships and societal responses to Lockdown.
Anthony Bila has created a new body of work the power(lessness) of (n)one for FORMAT21, that explores how lockdown restrictions have compromised our sense of autonomy, taking into consideration the individualism of western culture versus the concept of community often found in African and Eastern culture has impacted our sense of control.
Uzoma Chidumaga Orji’s new work Welcome to Instaland, invites you to explore a surrealistic landscape that reflects the realities of social media today and considers the relationship artists have with it.
House of Realness by Sipho Gongxeka attempts to challenge long-held notions of how black queer individuals are expected to publicly perform their identities through a set of nostalgic images with an aesthetic that mimics a style of photography reminiscent of what a street photographer; working in township communities in the 1980s, might have captured.
This exhibition has been organised through Here, There & Everywhere and their Africa/UK: Transforming Art Ecologies programme organised by New Art Exchange, which offers artistic collaborations through artist residencies, exhibitions and events.
The Open Call was organised by QUAD, Derby. FORMAT, Here There Everywhere, New Art Exchange, in partnership with African Artists’ Foundation and Lagos Photo, Nigeria.
Find out more: formatfestival.com
From 19th May 2021 to 5th September 2021