B.O.O.K
By
n:u (melissandre varin)
2020 - 2023
image credit: Ayesha Jones
- Socially Engaged Practice
- Urban Dynamics & Public Realm
- Heritage & Archives
- Participatory & Collaborative
- Socioeconomic Structures & Consumerism
- Personal Narratives & Identity
- Artists Collective
- Black Art
- Curation
- Curatorial Research
- Community Development
- Art Residency
Dimensions
2020-2023
This communal project founded by n:u (melissandre varin) was an invitation to rethink and remake knowledge and culture on our own terms. B.O.O.K (r)evolved through radical sharing, caring and disrupting, by using and developing non-extractive collective mechanisms for re-inventing the everyday as a political space for collective heal- ing and liberation.
The soft infrastructure of B.O.O.K was supported by a self-organised working group composed of 9 Black artists, writers, researchers, facilitators and curators including: Antonio Roberts, Mojere Ajayi-Egunjobi, Jae Tallawah, Samiir Saunders, Sym Mendez, Last Mafuba, Hannah Adereti, Ayesha Jones, and, n:u formerly known as melissandre varin.
They ran artist residencies and commissioned West-Midlands-based artists; produced the B.O.O.K podcast inviting artworkers to share their knowledge; held space for B.O.O.K clubs in the form of collective reading, and dreaming inspired by Black-authored publications for children and adults; organised a B.O.O.K retreat; they also curated film interventions at Vivid Projects, Public House, and Yard Art House - Birmingham (GB) to support filmmakers. Funded by The National Lottery CommunityFund
image credit: Ayesha Jones, B.O.O.K 2021-2023
Helping Artists Keep Going
Axis is an artist-led charity supporting contemporary visual artists with resources, connection, and visibility.