October > November News//Letter - Algerian Thoughts, New Book and Old Stories

Dear friends, colleagues, culture & art lovers,

I hope this email finds you well!

October disappeared in a loop of time, didn't it?

My end of the Channel, it was warm, busy and very interesting! Focusing on book events, writing and pursuing the conversations on issues such as the "class war", Black History Month, colonial history, but also beauty and creativity...

Here are a few texts and audio programmes - all available for free as usual - I'd love to share with you all.

May November 2021 be as rich and progressive... 

On #Decolonising

17 October 1961 / 2021 - My opinion piece for AJE

Meanwhile, other ghosts from the past were haunting me... 

It's the first time I find the courage to write about this 

part of my family's history... You can read it here. 

And the American radio NPR asked me to pursue the conversation. 

Here it is: on All Things Considered.

Here, There... Evenwhere:

African & Diaspora Artists at Arnolfini 

 

In other news, my art book on African & Diaspora artists  at Arnolfini is out too! I worked for a year for the art gallery Arnolfini, here in Bristol, as their writer in residence. I'm so excited to share the result!

The book is available in PDF for educational purposes, and a few physical copies will be available in November, at Arnolfini's bookshop. 

We also recorded an online discussion with Dr Anne Harbin from UWE, to generate a wider discussion: it'll soon be on Arnolfini's website and on their YouTube Channel. 

Do get in touch if you're interested in reading and/or taking part in our wider discussion! 

KEITH PIPER: INTERVIEW  

ART UK asked me to focus on the work of one of the key artists I interviewed for the aforementioned book: Keith Piper. 

A key member of the Black Art Group in the UK from the early 1980s, he then exhibited worldwide and never ceased to innovate and provoke inspiring art and reflections, relevant for the time. 

His next exhibition will open at the New Art Gallery in Walsall in January 2022.

You can read our conversation here. 

Journalist in Africa

Timely, I was also recently asked to chat about previous travels by the amazing journalist Chika Oduah, currently based in Nigeria, about our experiences as reporters on the continent and on Western-African relations, one of my favourite subjects... 

It is a very long one, but feel free to have a read:

SERIES: HOW TO MOVE TO AFRICA AS A JOURNALIST #3: MELISSA CHEMAM

https://journalistinafrica.com/2021/10/02/series-how-to-move-to-africa-as-a-journalist-3-melissa-chemam/

I AM History

As you know October is also the time of 'Black History Month' in the UK, but I write about different communities' art and history all year long... 

There is so much to see and listen to but here's my latest little contribution: 

An Interview With Artistic Director Suzann McLean

The Eyes Magazine - Issue #12

THE EYES #12 > B-SIDE 

PHOTOGRAPHY . AFROPEAN . FUSION 

With Johny Pitts as guest curator

We interviewed the one and only Mad Professor together.

See here:  https://theeyes.eu/en/revue/the-eyes-12/

'Soul Music' 

on BBC Radio 4

Finally, I was invited to talk about the song that should be our national anthem, really... 

'Unfinished Sympathy' by Massive Attack, from their debut album 'Blue Lines', released 30 years ago.

This fantastic programme is indeed produced in Bristol and this specific episode will be available from early December.

You'll be able to listen from here:  

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b008mj7p/broadcasts/upcoming

A few words about my book on the band here, about 'Blue Lines' here and here. 

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I still have a few projects coming up... More about them next year.

My next article, before the end of the year, will be about Lubaina Himid and a piece on contemporary Algerian artists who are dear to my heart... It's for a brand new magazine: the Journal of Creative Pursuit. 

In the meantime, I'm now teaching 5 different modules in journalism, media production and working in the creative industries - including lectures about films/moving images productions and critique, news programmes, music journalism... I'm grateful to be trusted in these tasks, to learn so much along the way.

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Feel free to get in touch if any of these ideas above speak to you.

For more on my writing and reflections about art, multiculturalism, post-colonial history, activism, you can also follow my work on Twitter, LinkedIn, on my website or via my blog. 

Many thanks for your attention! 

With my very best wishes,

melissa 

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Melissa Chemam

Writer, Journalist, Researcher

Writer in residence at Arnolfini Art Gallery

Senior Lecturer in Media & Journalism (Bristol, UK) 

E: mchemam@gmail.com

W: https://sites.google.com/view/melissachemam

Interview with 'Black Art Group' founder Keith Piper

New piece for ART UK

STORIES

Keith Piper: on the history of the Black Art Group

Posted 25 Oct 2021, by Melissa Chemam

 

Born in 1960 on the Mediterranean island of Malta, a British colony from 1814 to 1964, Keith Piper comes from a family who is originally from Antigua, in the Caribbean. His dad came to England in the 1950s, settling in Birmingham, and was posted on the island's British military base just before the birth of Keith and his second sister. Piper was six-month-old when he arrived in Britain.

A painter, draughtsman as much as an artist in slides, photomontage, text and all sort of mixed media, he was a key member of the Black Art Group in the UK, then exhibited worldwide and never ceased to innovate and provoke inspiring art and reflections, relevant for the time.

Read on here:

https://artuk.org/discover/stories/keith-piper-on-the-history-of-the-black-art-group

BOMBIN’, 36 years on

 

Souvenir from Arnolfini Art Gallery event with GOLDIE today in Bristol, talking about Dick Fontaine’s film BOMBIN’, the early 1980s graffiti in the US/UK, about the artists Brim, Bio, 3D and their collectives Tats Cru / Transatlantic Federation / Wild Bunch:  

 

'Here, There... Evenwhere'

- Africa at Arnolfini

Art book dedicated to all the African, Caribbean and Afro-Caribbean British artists Arnolfini has invited to exhibit over the years since 1961…

I'm so happy this artbook is now almost ready!! It was so wonderful to work with Arnolfini, especially Phil Owen.

I had such a great time as their writer in residence and the gallery really feels like my home. The book will be out in PDF and a few physically copies later this month. Thanks to all the mesmerising artists for their inspiring creativity !

More soon here: https://arnolfini.org.uk/category/writer-in-residence/

Some of the artists of Caribbean and African descent invited to exhibit at Arnolfini over the years: Veronica Ryan, Keith Piper, John Akomfrah, and many more.

Arnolfini’s Writer in Residence is freelance journalist/reporter, radio producer, researcher and writer, Melissa Chemam.

Melissa writes for many publications such as Art UK, I AM History, The Markaz Review, Reader's Digest, The Public Art Review, Transfuge Magazine, Le Figaro, Le Monde, Skin Deep, The Bristol Cable, Bristol 24/7, CIRCA Art Magazine, The Times Literary Supplement, The Independent, Byline Times and Public Pressure.

From 2010 to 2014, she was based in East and Central Africa, working as a reporter and communication specialist from Kenya, Uganda, Somalia/Somaliland, Ethiopia, Liberia, Senegal, Niger, and Central African Republic, also travelling to North Africa regularly (Algeria, Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco). She reported mostly for the BBC World Service (BBC Afrique) and DW. From Paris and London, she also covered African affairs for Vox Africa, Al Qarra TV, RFI, TV5, iTélé, and various magazines...

Since 2015, she has been focusing on African music and visual arts, as much as culture from diverse diasporas.

She is author of Out of The Comfort Zone, a book on Massive Attack and Bristol, of a book chapter on reggae in Bristol (Palgrave Macmillan, 2020), another chapter on graffiti culture (in Vanguard, 2021), and this coming art book.

Read more about the residency here: https://arnolfini.org.uk/category/writer-in-residence/

September News//Letter 2021: Art - Beyond Black and White

 

 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, multiculturalism, post-colonial history, activism, here are a few links and events to come.

Firstly, my recent piece for The Reader's Digest ahead of a fantastic season in England's main art venues: 

5 pioneering Black British artists

These Black Britons have produced some of the most thought-provoking and envelope pushing art for decades 

This year sees an array of exhibitions by leading Black British artists, and as the writer in residence at Arnolfini in Bristol, Melissa Chemam shares her selection of five ground-breaking Black British artists. Read here. 

TMR13 - ORIGINS

Meanwhile... Do have a look at latest issues of @TheMarkazReview:

Read about notions of displacement & indigeneity from all over the Greater Middle East in this incredible edition:

https://themarkaz.org/

With texts from Istanbul, Morocco, Turkey, Iran... And original stories reflecting Amazigh, Armenian, Bedouin, Kurdish, Sephardic, Black Iranian identities, and other diverse cultures of the MENA.

Working-Class Writers Festival

Later in October, 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', on Saturday 23 October here in Bristol, at the Knowle West Media Centre.

I'll also be part of the panel discussion:

'Writing for Change: 

Can words truly inspire a better world?' 

Come over at Watershed on Sunday afternoon. 

I'll also run a writing workshop at the Knowle West Media Centre on Saturday: details on their website soon. 

This event is partnered by Bristol Ideas, Watershed and Knowle West Media Centre. 

Here, There... Evenwhere: African & Diaspora Artists at Arnolfini 

 

And finally, 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 soon!

The art book will finally be released later in October in PDF and physical copies, and we are organising online events, with the gallery and UWE, to generate a wider discussion.

The first one will be posted on Arnolfini's website. 

Some of the artists mentioned are from the UK; others were born in the USA, Trinidad, Jamaica, Montserrat; others from Sudan, Algeria, Morocco, Ethiopia or Ghana... 

Most of them had to first 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.

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, Hassan Hajjaj, Frank Bowling, 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. 

The book will be available in PDF for educational purposes and in physical copies at Arnolfini's bookshop. 

Do get in touch if you're interested in reading and/or taking part in our wider discussion! 

Details on Arnolfini's website here. 

Bristol Street Art: Book Launch

As part of an exhibition at M Shed, Bristol's history museum, I've been asked to write a chapter in the 'Vanguard' Book about the first graffiti artists in Bristol in the first part of the 1980s. The producers of the show organise a book launch and have invited the legendary John Nation and me to talk about the scene. 

It should have been on Thursday 30 September 2021, at Waterstones, Bristol - Galleries - but due to an artist being ill, it's postponed to late October.

Details here and intro: 

Join us for an in-depth exploration of the evolution of Bristol street art, accompanying the exhibition at Bristol MShed. Contributors Melissa Chemam and John Nation will lead a reading and Q&A before signing copies of the book. Prolific artist Eco, whose piece 'Helloblue' features in the exhibition, will be launching and signing limited edition prints live on the night. 

The book navigates the historic triumphs and hardships of street art's anarchist origins in the 1980s and 90s, the explosion of work in the early 2000s and its rise beyond Bristol to engage with the broader global conversation. 

In the meantimes, you can also find my first book there, Massive Attack: Out of the Comfort Zone. 

And for more on the Bristol's street art scene, here is my recent article for Reader's Digest:

Rediscovering Bristol's original graffiti artists

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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From this month of October, I'm now teaching 5 (!) different modules in journalism, media production and creative industries - including lectures about music journalism, films, news programmes...

It's quite a commitment and I'm grateful to be trusted in these tasks, to learn so much along the way.

I still have a few projects in writing and podcasts coming up... More about them soon.

Feel free to get in touch if any of these ideas above speak to you.

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 in Media at UWE Bristol 

Writer in residence at Arnolfini Art Gallery

W: https://sites.google.com/view/melissachemam

Lonely Guest: Tricky's new project on Lonely Guest (False Idols Records/Tricky)

 

Tricky's latest project is ambitious to say the least!

Listeners can expect to hear lots of different styles and voices throughout the course of the album, including the legendary Lee “Scratch” Perry, who passed away recently, and Bristol's Idles lead singer, Joe Talbot. 

Coming out on  22 October via False Idols Records, the new 'Lonely Guest' album features collaborations with Marta, Joe Talbot, Oh Land, Murkage Dave, Lee “Scratch” Perry, Rina Mushonga, Paul Smith, Kway and Breanna Barbara. 

Marta - aka Marta Gałuszewska - is a big part of the album. Known for winning The Voice in Poland in November of 2017, she appears on four out of the ten tracks.

Listen to 'Pre War Tension'- ft. Joe Talbot, Marta, Tricky

 Listen to - 'On A Move' ft. Kway 

Video by Neirin Best 

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Tracks taken from the upcoming album: 'Lonely Guest' by Lonely Guest 

Out on October 22nd on False Idols. 

Preorder : https://falseidols.lnk.to/LonelyGuest  

False Idols: https://falseidols.org/ / https://www.instagram.com/_false_idols_/

'No Woman, No Cry': Remembering Stephen Lawrence

 

Remembering #StephenLawrence today with this painting 'No Woman No Cry' by Chris Ofili, inspired by him and his mother. More on artist, painter Chris Ofili in my coming piece for Reader's Digest...

From Tate: 'No Woman, No Cry'

This painting was made by the British artist Chris Ofili in 1998 when he was living and working in London.

The title of this work is the name of a 1974 song by the Jamaican reggae musician Bob Marley that entreats a female listener not to be sad.

The phosphorescent inscription in the painting indicates that the crying woman depicted is Doreen Lawrence (now Baroness Lawrence of Clarendon OBE), the mother of Stephen Lawrence, who was murdered as a teenage boy in an unprovoked racist attack in London on 13 September 1993.

Martina Topley-Bird - 'Forever I Wait' is out

 

I've heard this long live dozens of times in 2016 in Massive Attack's 'Ritual Spirit' tour. The then-temporary title was 'Clock Forward'. 

Martina is one of their best vocalists and collaborators. And Tricky's first and most magnificent one. I was lucky to interview her when I wrote the English version of my book about the band and Bristol, and highly value her music and her journey.

Very happy the track was finally re-produced and released on her 4th album, 'Forever I wait', released on Friday 10 September.

A wonderful album I highly recommend!

'Collide'

'Collide' · Martina Topley Bird Album: 'Forever I Wait', out this week ℗ Martina Topley-Bird Released on: 2021-09-10 Producers, Composers, Lyricists: Martina Topley Bird, Robert Del Naja, Euan Dickenson, Natasha Graham

Engineer: Ian Caple, Jean-Pierre Chalbos

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Here is a good recording of the liver version from 2016:

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Review of the album by a friend, Mark Kidel, on theartsdesk:

Martina Topley-Bird, who started out doing vocals for Tricky’s first single "Aftermath" aged 15, has matured.

On her fourth solo album, self-produced, she builds confidently on the dreamy vocal lines that were essential to the Bristol sound of the '90s.

On her previous solo ventures, it seemed as if she were in search of an identity, a rock chick one moment and a trance-weaver the next. She has definitely found herself: bathed in soft-edged dubby sounds that suit a sensual voice that makes a virtue of reverb, this is music that floats and supports Martina’s naked expression of vulnerability.

There are collaborations with Robert del Naja that could be outtakes from a Massive Attack album not yet made, Martina having worked as a live and studio vocalist for the Bristol band for half a dozen years. She has chosen her other collaborators with all the right intuitions – Christoffer Berg, Rich Morel, Benjamin Boeldt and Tialdia – all of them perfectly attuned to her breathy and soulful vocals.

Martina is a master of introversion, creating chiaroscuro songs that explore her inner states, playing darkly with existential angst and an ever-present sense of foreboding. All of this was present in Tricky’s first album Maxinquaye (1997), and it could be said that this classic and ground-breaking album was as much Martina as Tricky’s. Back then, she was thought to be Tricky’s muse, or the voice of his mother who wrote poetry and committed suicide when he was a child. Tricky and Martina’s daughter Mina committed suicide herself in 2019. The new album was mostly finished before Mina's tragic death, but it’s almost as if Martina were navigating a life haunted by self-destruction and suicidal tendencies born of excessive sensitivity and creative talent – fates shared in an uncanny way within the constellation of her intimate relationships.

The mood is somewhat relentless. There's little variation from a sound born of Bristol in the '90s, including the lilting beat of what was known as trip-hop,  the nervous energy of drum’n’bass and the dreamscapes of dub. This is a mature album though, nourished by darkness and passion. Martina has dared face her demons, and her work has a depth well beyond her earlier solo work. “Sand” finds her with a sharper voice, ringed with the edge of an anger that has never been part of her palette. The closing song on the album, ”Rain”, bewitchingly lyrical with string quartet accompaniment, is a gem, and suggests another way forward into new and exciting territory.

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More soon.