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/