August News//Letter:
Rethinking Art History, Creativity and Colonial History...
- Book Events and New Writing -
Dear friends, colleagues, culture & art lovers,
I hope this email finds you well!
Please, allow me to share with you my latest newsletter.
For more on my writing and reflections about art, music, multiculturalism, post-colonial history, activism, here are a few links and events to come.
Firstly:
Welcome Back Bristol!
Saturday 14th August 2021 18:30 At Waterstones, Bristol - Galleries is very happy to reopen their shop to events!
Join us "local" authors: Martin Booth, Melissa Chemam, Mike Manson and Colin Moody to discuss works on our great city.
Martin is the editor of Bristol24/7 and author of 111 Places in Bristol that you Shouldn't Miss.
Melissa is a journalist, lecturer and author of Massive Attack: Out of the Comfort Zone.
Mike is a local author who has worked on the Bristol Short Story Prize and published several books on the city, including the Bristol Miscellany.
Colin is a photographer whose books document the diversity and spirit of Bristol.
This will be your chance to listen to all four speakers, get a copy of their books signed and enjoy an evening celebrating Bristol.
Free event on Saturday 14 August 2021,18:30 at Waterstones, Bristol - Galleries, register here!
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For more on the Bristol's street art scene, here is my article for Reader's Digest:
In the 80's, Bristol was one of the pioneering graffiti art hotspots in the world. A new exhibition at the M Shed museum in Bristol pays tribute to its history.
Read here.
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Meanwhile, as some of you may know, I worked for a year on a book with and for the art gallery Arnolfini, here in Bristol, as their writer in residence, I'm so excited to share the result!
Here, There... Evenwhere:
African & Diaspora Artists at Arnolfini
The art book will be released in October, and we are organising events, at the gallery, the university and online, to generate a wider discussion.
Some of the artists mentioned are from the UK, others were born in the USA, Trinidad, Jamaica, Montserrat, but also Morocco, Sudan, Algeria, Ethiopia or Ghana... But most of them had to work in the margins, or to form their own groups and find their personal space to be exhibited and deliver another vision of the arts / the world we live in.
Donald Rodney, 'Double Think', 1992
This alternative part of history of art gave me room to try to weave together different parts of the African continent - that I have visited or lived in. The project also retraces the routes that binded Africa with the Americas and Europe over the centuries.
These are themes that have haunted my work as a journalist, researcher and writer since the mid-2000s at least...
'Still I Rise', Arnolfini, 2019
Since the 2000s, many of these artists have been simultaneously exhibiting in London, Liverpool, Nottingham, New York, Berlin, Venice and further. John Akomfrah, Veronica Ryan, Keith Peiper, Donald Rodney, Sonia Boyce, Frank Bowling, Hassan Hajjaj, etc.
That's why I'd love to create dialogues and generate further encounters with African artists exhibiting in other parts of the world, when this book is out.
Do get in touch if you're interested in taking part in our wider discussion!
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Here are other related articles, recently released:
I AM History
My latest articles for the online magazine on 'Black' art and culture:
2021 is a great year of reckoning for many Black women artists in the UK. And an amazing set of exhibitions allows us to enjoy their powerful work this summer. It starts with the exceptional Mother of Mankind exhibition on view at the House Of Fine Arts Mayfair space in London, which is free and open until 31 August.
The two pioneering artists paved the way for Black women artists in Britain. Both have incredible work on display this year that you absolutely must see.
Frank Bowling, Icon and Inspiration
This summer, a mesmerising exhibition of the unanimously admired painter Frank Bowling is also on display at Arnolfini, Bristol.
My interview with Frank Bowling will soon be available to read on Art UK here.
Television Series
on Colonial History
In the spring, I've been working as a researcher on a historical TV series still in the making... While the documentary series I've worked on for years has been released on HBO in the USA on Sky and NOW TV in the UK: 'Exterminate All the Brutes'.
'Exterminate All the Brutes', by acclaimed filmmaker Raoul Peck ('I Am Not Your Negro', HBO’s 'Sometimes in April'), is a four-part hybrid docuseries offering an expansive exploration of the exploitative and genocidal aspects of European colonialism, from America to Africa, and its impact on society today.
Based on works by three authors and scholars — Sven Lindqvist’s Exterminate All the Brutes, Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz’s An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States, and Michel-Rolph Trouillot’s Silencing the Past— 'Exterminate All the Brutes' revisits and reframes the profound impact of the Native American genocide and American slavery as it fundamentally informs the present.
Review: 'HBO’s Exterminate All the Brutes Is a Radical Masterpiece About White Supremacy, Violence and the History of the West' - Time Magazine
Bristol - Fall of Colston,
One Year On
The statue of 17th century merchant and slave trader Edward Colston was pulled down here in Bristol during a Black Lives Matter protest, on 7 June 2020. 125 years later.
One year on, the statue now is part of a new display at M Shed museum, on the docks, in partnership with the We Are Bristol History Commission.
Read about it here on my blog.
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On a professional level, in June 2021 I became a Senior Lecturer in Journalism and Media Production, at the University of the West of England (UWE), within the Faculty of Arts, Creative Industries and Education (ACE).
I really enjoy working with UWE; our campus is one of the greenest in Europe and my team is brilliant and creative. I look forward to new projects next year!
In June, I also interviewed one of our students on how the past year went, you can have a listen on The Quarantini Podcast here.
I intend to pursue my research on multiculturalism and
African-American-European exchanges & relations.
Working-Class
Writers Festival
Finally, a dynamic new literary festival of national significance will also take place in Bristol in October 2021.
It aims to enhance, encourage and increase representation from the 'working class' across the country, whilst connecting authors, readers, agents and editors.
The artistic director is Natasha Carthew, an award-winning working-class writer and poet, a passionate campaigner for working-class representation in the arts.
I've been asked to be part of it! I'll run a workshop on 'Writing in English as a Second Language', the weekend of 21-22 October here in Bristol.
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Do get in touch for more.
You can also follow my work on Twitter, LinkedIn, via my Facebook page Melissa on the Road, or my blog.
Many thanks for your attention!
With my very best wishes,
melissa
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Melissa Chemam
Writer, Journalist, Researcher
Senior Lecturer @ UWE Bristol
Email: mchemam@gmail.com
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