jaz

Meet @hofmanica and @jazmor_ - two of our Origins Artists 👋 Ahead of the Origins Festival in May (tickets on sale NOW!), we are releasing videos introducing our Artists and giving you a chance to find out more about their artistic practice and what it is like being an artist in the West Midlands ✍️ Check out what they have to say 👉 Link in bio

🎞️we’re back next month for a blend of film, politics and community gathering with a screening of Sidney Sokhona’s debut film Nationalité: Immigré (1976), alongside a creative workshop exploring heritage and migration with artist Jaz Morrison🎞️ About the film:
Blending fiction and documentary, Mauritanian director Sidney Sokhona – drawing on his own difficult experiences – traces the journey of an immigrant arriving in Paris. Mirroring an increasingly fascist and anti-immigrant socio-politcal climate in the UK, the film captures the realities of racism and exploitation faced by migrants, charting a path to political awakening and the collective revolts that took place in the rue Riquet hostel. The film has recently been brought back to life through a stunning 4K restoration and celebrated its UK premiere earlier this year, presented by film curator Abiba Coulibaly(@_a__biba ) at Cinema Rediscovered in July. Tickets are available on a pay what you can basis, however workshop slots are limited so be sure to book your ticket early- link in bio 🎟️ 📆 Thursday 4th December 📍The Old Print Works, Balsall Heath WORKSHOP: 18:30 FILM STARTS: 19:30 Cinema Rediscovered on Tour is a Watershed project in collaboration with Park Circus and StudioCanal. With support from BFI awarding funds from The National Lottery.

NEW ON SKIN DEEP 📀 ‘We can make do with outdated tech’: the Birmingham collective reviving DVDs. Juwairiyyah was sick of trawling the internet to watch niche films alone. In this month’s online story, she tells Jaz Morrison @jazmor_ about her quest for Birmingham DVD library @radicalexhibition to change our neoliberal viewing culture. 🔗 Read the full interview in the ‘Skin Deep Meets’ section of our website - link in bio. 📸 Image Credits Jaz Morrison & Aaisha Akhtar

I spoke to ‘one to watch’ @creezonline about touring with the likes of Lady Leshurr and Jaykae, his EP ‘GRIP HOP’, what it’s like to get a nod from Ghetts. We also spoke briefly about what LEGACY means on a personal level, as well as in a more Birmingham-specific way: ‘I’m surrounded by so much talent. There’s a fire here. It almost doesn’t matter if nobody else can see it – *we* know what Birmingham has.’ A huge thanks to Cree and his team for speaking with me! Big ups to @bradmoji and the Punch Records team for the documentation (credits: @pharaohdraws / DexwithSpex); and thanks to @voicemaguk for hosting the piece. Give me a sec to get home and I’ll add the link to my website.

If you’re free today between now and 4pm, come thru to Sense Touchbase Pears (Selly Oak) to get a glimpse of what happens in that massive brutalist building near the station! @sensecharity is part of @birminghamopenstudios this year. We’re showcasing a selection of visual art from our Resident Visual Artist @drawnbyhannahuk as well as the disabled people with complex needs that we support. You’re welcome to touch (most) of the art, chat to our Resident Visual Artist, see our accessible art spaces, and contribute to a communal banner that summarises our artistic vision: this is MY art. See you later 👋🏿

‘My joy exists when I do not see or feel it’s presence. It lingers in sedimentary time, older than eons. It endures and escapes. It rises from the ashes. My joy is Other, with its oppositional gaze and sucked teeth. It perseveres out of spite. My joy had childlike conviction. *Childish* conviction. My joy was given an ASBO. ‘And my joy will outlive this world. Because I said it.’ — excerpt of text for ‘Black British Concretion: Igba Aje’ (2024, Jaz Morrison & Yusuf Dongo) In March 2024, I launched the Arkhe in Birmingham, UK. The Arkhe exists to offer historical context; foundational Black British rites and culture-building staples; and ways to gather, celebrate and organise despite limited access to space. ‘We are interested in how it is to be alive.’ – Keorapetse Kgositsile Rooted in the Black Radical Tradition, and with a Pan Africanist intent, the Arkhe is a speculative and morphological vessel, docking at phantom shores across the Black African Diaspora to inspire ‘smaddification’. The Arkhe was spotted in early May, docked near the NYC @blackzinefair , celebrating publishing legacies, creative resistance, and Black Love. There, ‘Black British Concretion: Igba Aje’ (2024), the first Black British Concretion was unveiled “Worlds-Fair-style” and documented in Black Joy Archive vIII (2025, Ed. @zpulley ). You can find it on pages 62 and 63. The Arkhe is not a nationalist vessel, but a dialectical-materialist one, responding to our positionality as “Black Brits” without isolating ourselves from the rest of the Diaspora. Thank you to collaborator & fabricator @ayokunledongo ; Zoë Pulley & #BlackJoyArchive; and Black Zine Fair NYC for enabling its docking. ‘Black British Concretion: Igba Aje’ and ‘Black Joy Archive vIII’ will be on show at @eprjcts Summer Camp this year if you’d like to see it 🤓

Birmingham Disability Festival is this Saturday (5th July), and I’ll be there as a volunteer! I also wrote this blog post to spotlight my chronically ill friends who are doing their tingsss in creative industries, community spaces, and in their advocacy – @the_migraineadvocate @themamahoodspace and @jolandemonique ⭐️ This piece was published right before #ShadesForMigraineDay but it also speaks to Labour’s nonsense PIP “Reforms”. My work colleague @drawnbyhannahuk recently spoke to The Big Issue about how these reforms could prevent them from being able to work, expand their creative practice, or care for their children. And if you’ve been keeping up with @the_migraineadvocate in any way, then you’ve seen her work in full force - correcting language, encouraging diverse representation, and capturing the reality of being disabled. Imagine being called a Resilient Warrior™️ while your rights are being attacked 💀 hardly encouraging is it? Disabled folks are often their own advocates — their first advocates, and their best advocates. Listening is important but we need more calls to action. You can start with these: 1) Read the blog, but also @drawnbyhannahuk ’s interview with The Big Issue. 2) Come to @birminghamdisabilityfestival ! Or volunteer!!! More info via the Festival page (: 3) Consider writing to your MP about the PIP reforms Thanks again to Birmingham Disability Fest, and Tesha, Jo, and Alisha for your time!

MAMAHOOD MUSES Saturday 28 June – Monday 14 July 2025 Private View: Friday 27th June, 6.30pm Join us this evening in honouring the beauty of Mamahood and celebrating the way they nurture, connect and support children. When I first began supporting Alisha and @themamahoodspace , I didn’t expect to be co-curating exhibitions with them! 🤣 It’s been a hectic but amazing experience, and I can’t thank everyone enough for your support ❤️ EXHIBITING ARTISTS @drawnbyhannahuk • @tanaziadion • @shariffahzart FEATURED MAMAS Alisha (@themamahoodspace ) • Buki • Catherine • Cleo • Egle • Ellie • Fisiwe • Kareen • Karla • La’Neshia • Leah • Lisa • Mariyha • Sonia • Sophie PHOTOGRAPHERS @vicmoy_ • @calungz • Ayinka Dorset PUBLICATION SUPPORT @mahaliasobers TECHIES @themadsaiyanmonkey • @dasminor PROJECT SUPPORTERS @cafestryx Birmingham City Council (Best Start for Life, Family Hubs Birmingham)

[…] a hostel for the homeless; a psychiatric ward; a crime scene; a study hall; a place of safety; a boxing ring; a confessional booth; a theatre space; a venture for knitting and book clubs; an information hub for people trying to find a long lost relative or a job. On most days, the library is all of these. There are some pics there that I took/was sent while engaging with the show (don’t underestimate the book trolley!) and talking with @lxcymgx , @jahpharoah and @jessie_tam_ I’ve been into ideas around social space since back when I pronounced Lefebvre as ‘Leafy Boy’, so I think I was always gonna be drawn to this show. The pics on the website are great but there are so many details you can’t see! If you haven’t been yet, you’ve got until Saturday 5th July. Japhet Dinganga, Jessie Tam, @m.o.akinola : […] The Library is All of These. Curated by Lucy Grubb Eastside Projects & Coventry Central Library Thanks to @corridor8 and @sculptureartman You can find the review via my website or Corridor8’s.

‘KIONE’ (2019 - 2025) digital prints on recycled polyester flags Gloam presents: free house x GLOAM Friday 16 May – Sunday 25 May 2025 Exhibiting Artists: @kristinaatthestudio @leahrhickey @fredhubble @cr0sspxtch @dinosaurkilby @sophiemackfall @ltlnim @eemilyscarrottt @______ris @evthresher Curated by @stuburkeart and @freehouse____ — One half of GLOAM’s 2025 exchange programme, where GLOAM partners with other artist-led initiatives to form an exchange of ideas, skill, art, and space. This year GLOAM is working with free house. For the second half, studio holders and directors will exhibit in Birmingham at Junction Works in July, facilitated by free house as part of @digbethfirstfri Thanks to Stu Burke and the GLOAM team. 📸: Sophie

🧍🏿‍♀️I’ve been meaning to post some updates for timeeeee, so here’s a quick roundup of stuff I’ve forgotten to mention (so far): 🗣️A huge thanks to @ohnitsoga2 who will be featuring my film ‘EARTHSTRONG’ in his lecture “Black Dreaming in ‘the Wake’; Reflections on Futures Past”, tomorrow for the Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences @theopenuniversity 🎥 🗣️ Some pics took/taken from @we.are.maia weekender. Always happy to support where I can. Oh yh and I met @larryachiampong (: (📸 me on Day 3 by @yonatantiruneh ) 🗣️ @themamahoodspace had a photoshoot in Feb! We’ll be announcing some exciting news soon so get ready to support the ting! 🗣️ I’m currently collabbing with various artists on an ongoing project that may become a prong of The Arkhe! Expensive but rewarding! I want to get the copy right before I post more details tho 🗣️ I’m on the Hippodrome Origins programme! Excited but also incredibly intimidated to be getting back into fiction writing 😭 on the bright side I’ll probably be fine thanks to this kitted cohort 🤞🏿 🗣️ I was involved in Ikon’s ‘(Re)Coded’ exhibition, reflecting on & responding to Stuart Hall’s work on encoding/decoding and the communal reclaiming of the lens. Thanks to @reganmcdonald_ & Ikon team, @bitsketchyinit & @vicmoy_ (A DAT MI INNA SPAGHETTI JUNCTION?!) AND LASTLY (no pic for this one) if you’re free April 12th, we’re doing some exciting things at @radicalexhibition (: #ifapostwasalsoanewsletter

Open Studio 2024 @kristinaatthestudio @jazmor_