Deborah Findlater, I and I

Thursday 28 November | 6.30 - 8.30PM

Free, book online 

This event accompanies Deborah Findlater’s exhibition Sacred Space. It features contributions from Derica Shields who will be in conversation with Findlater, followed by Saint Lov’ie reading excerpts from the zine Yam and Other Hard Food and a screening of Cycles, a film by Zeinabu irene Davis.

I and I expands on the themes and research behind the exhibition which include: how oneness manifests for Black Womxn, the balance between Western individualism & forms of communalism that are dependent on unequal labour, and what it means to hold space for yourself internally & externally.

Cycles, Zeinabu irene Davis 1989 | 17 minutes
Rasheeda Allen is waiting for her period. Drawing on Caribbean folklore, this exuberant experimental drama uses animation and live action to discover a film language unique to African American women. The multilayered soundtrack combines a chorus of women’s voices with the music of Africa and the diaspora-including Miriam Makeba, acapella singers from Haiti and trumpetiste Clora Bryant. Cycles is screened with thanks to Women Make Movies

Bios:

Zeinabu irene Davis is a director and producer who has received numerous awards for her work with film and video. Born in 1961 in Philadelphia, she received a M.A. in African Studies in 1985 at UCLA, where she also earned her M.F.A. in Film and Television production in 1989. She has received acclaim for her representation of the African American female perspective through a variety of works, which include documentaries, short narratives and experimental films. Works include A Period Piece (1991), A Powerful Thang (1991), Mother of a River (1995) and Compensation (1999) continued to garner her awards from numerous organizations and festivals, including the Gordan Parks Award for Best Director from the Independent Feature Project. Her latest project, Spirits of Rebellion (2011), is a documentary work-in-progress which gathers fellow L.A. Rebellion filmmakers and explores topics in African American film.

Derica Shields is a writer, researcher and programmer from London. Her work has appeared in the New Inquiry, Rookie, Girls Like Us, Live Art Almanac, Flash Art and more. She is the co-founder of The Future Weird, a (now defunct) screening and discussion series centered on experimental, world-unravelling films. As part of a 2017 Triple Canopy commission, she is developing a multi-format oral history project centering on black people’s accounts of the UK welfare state. She is also working on a book project commissioned by Hannah Black for a new Book Works series

Georgina Johnson, who also goes by Saint Lov’ie is an artist and polymath whose practise spans curation, direction (creative/art direction) and filmmaking. Her work primarily explores legacy, memory, identity and wellbeing. Johnson works between mediums fluidly, moulding and applying her vision through sound, film, photography, installation and other means; most notably completing artist commissions for The Photographers’ Gallery and Now Gallery (2017-2018). Poetry and prose feature largely in her printed works as means to explore memory and present contemporary ideals around blackness and black life. She explores language through these mediums, in its many forms, through observatory means and socio-political ideologies. Johnson’s work with note-worthy cultural organisations, including The V&A, British Council, National Museums Scotland and The Design Museum is an expansion of her practise and outworking of her community interests and commitment towards opening up the creative industries. This is supported through her creative platform The Laundry – which is concerned with engaging with the curious, visionary and creatively courageous. @Saint_Lovie @thelaundryarts