Onyeka Igwe is a London-born and based moving image artist and researcher.

Her work is aimed at the question: how do we live together? Not to provide a rigid answer as such, but to pull apart the nuances of mutuality, co-existence and multiplicity.

Onyeka’s practice figures sensorial, spatial and counter-hegemonic ways of knowing as central to that task. For her, the body, archives and narratives both oral and textual act as a mode of enquiry that makes possible the exposition of overlooked histories.

She has had solo/duo shows at MoMA PS1, New York (2023), High Line, New York (2022), Mercer Union, Toronto (2021), Jerwood Arts, London (2019) and Trinity Square Video, London (2018). Her films have screened in numerous group shows and film festivals worldwide.

Currently, she is Practitioner in Residence at the University of the Arts London and she will participate in the group show ‘Nigeria Imaginary’ in the national pavilion of Nigeria at the upcoming 60th Venice Biennial in 2024. She was awarded the New Cinema Award at Berwick Film and Media Arts Festival 2019, 2020 Arts Foundation Fellowship, 2021 Foundwork Artist Prize and has been nominated for the 2022 Jarman Award and Max Mara Artist Prize for Women. Onyeka is represented by Arcadia Missa Gallery.

Elaine Lillian Joseph is an audio describer based in London and Birmingham. She has a BA in Modern Languages (German) and English Literature and trained as a describer at ITV under Jonathan Penny. She is a founding member of SoundScribe, a global majority collective of audio describers and consultants and a member of Collective Text, an organisation supporting accessibility in art and film through creative captioning, audio description and interpretation. The question that galvanises her practice is how can we honour the labour of access work and create a service that powerfully resonates with users? Collaboration and anti-discrimination activism is key to her work.

A selection of recently completed projects include Eve Stainton’s Impact Driver at the Institute for Contemporary Arts in London, an online screening of Hofesh Shechter’s Political Mother and a newly commissioned audio described track for Black Audio Film Collective’s Handsworth Songs.

Leslie is based at Venture Arts studios in Manchester and uses paint, ink or ceramics to illustrates his life, his past, his family, growing up in Moss Side in 70s and 80s, entire film sequences and a rich variety of animals, all from memory. Leslie works at extremes of small and large scale, and adds fantasy elements to the real world, combining his mother at the Arndale Market with tv characters and superheroes. Leslie’s work is part of the Government Art Collection and is widely shown, recently at TJ Boulting, London.

Often commissioned to produce live drawings, Leslie has gained a reputation as one of Britain’s most dynamic mural artists. His work has been exhibited widely across the UK, including exhibitions at The Lowry, Salford (2023), TJ Boulting, London (2022), Paper Gallery, Manchester (2022) and in 2019, his work was exhibited in Tokyo. In 2021 Leslie’s intricate piece, ‘Animals from Memory’ was acquired by the Government Art Collection.

Early in 2023 Leslie was selected to take part in a collaborative project between the Royal Society of Sculptors and Art et al. Leslie was also commissioned in 2023 by the Government Art Collection, along with nine other selected British artists, to create new artworks in celebration of the coronation of King Charles III. His work is held in private and public collections across the UK and internationally.

Jackie Haynes is an multi-disciplinary artist with a textiles background which notably included House of Haynes Fancy Dress Hire in Manchester (1998 – 2012). She studied BA Clothing in the late 1980’s which included an industrial placement in Nottingham’s Lace Market.

 She currently collaborates with Heather Ross as Artist A & Artist B, whose recent work ‘The Surplus Badge’ was featured in the British Textile Biennial (2023). Jackie recently completed an art practice-based PhD study of the German Dada artist, Kurt Schwitters and is a member of art practice-based research groups, Proximity and ARG. Her newest role is as an artist and research team member with ‘Things of the Least’, a 3-year project focussing on Manchester Art Gallery’s Mary Greg Collection. Screen printing is a recent development of her practice, and she is using print in an Artist Book focussing on her collaborative experiences from Venture Arts’ Narratives residency (2022-2023).

Much of Horace’s work depicts the world around him, his family and memories of his childhood growing up in Hulme and Moss Side, Manchester. For Narratives, Horace concentrated on memories of music that he loves and grew up with in Moss Side, creating lists of songs and singers and wished to transform non Reggae pop-songs which he loves, into new reggae classics. Horace was the main inspiration behind the Narrative group’s “Julie” theme due to his devotion to many women called Julie. The group’s initial “Julie Party” took place at the social club where the residency took place. Horace exhibits widely and this year alone has shown at Kammermachen Festival, Chemnitz, Germany, The Gallery of Everything, London, Portico Library, Manchester and Slugtown Newcastle.

Alice Merida Richards is a musician and ceramicist based in Manchester. In collaboration with Horace, the duo rerecorded a reggae version of Julee Cruise’s ‘Falling’, (Twin Peaks Theme). Horace and Merida created posters and invitations taking aesthetic inspiration from posters and flyers from 80s Moss Side parties and festivals kept in the archive at Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Resource Centre.

Manchester based film maker Dominic Pillai also collaborated on a music video for Falling, inspired by the overwhelming style and character of the social club in which the residency took place as well as huge comedy, reggae and supper club influences of Horace’s idols such as Sid James, Sparrow Martin & Julie London.

Millie Loveday’s work has grown from an ancestral discovery from 17th century Jamaica to beginning to build an underwater fantasy world inspired by the history and Afro futurist influences. Millie’s ancestral research revealed a conflicted Jamaican heritage leading her to unearth stories through family objects, statues, relics and ornaments found in her family member’s homes by using them to initiate conversation. Her video traces Cedric, a black baby doll from her mother’s childhood setting off around the world in search of his own identity.

Sarah Boulter is an artist, curator and creative producer. She works with the hyper local, national and international artist-led sector, focussing on collaborative work, inclusivity and artist development. Sarah Boulter documented the entire residency and The Julie Channel is a TV station devoted to all things Narratives. A raw, making-of style documentary of experiments, art and connections made during this collaborative residency.

Another Nottingham is part of Fashion Fictions, founded by Dr Amy Twigger Holroyd in 2020. The project brings people together to imagine, explore and enact engaging fictional visions of alternative fashion cultures and systems as an unconventional route to real-world change.

The Nottingham Independent Arts School fiction (World 209, Exploration A) was contributed by Elsa Ball, Sally Cooke, Tom Fisher, Rick Hall, Fo Hamblin, Joyce Lee, Joshua Lockwood-Moran, Alex Vincent Turner, Amy Twigger Holroyd, Sue Walton and Lorraine Warde, with input in the preparation phase from Amanda Briggs-Goode, Toby Ebbs, Tom Godfrey and Simon Holroyd

Paul Gorman is a writer, curator and commentator on visual culture. His Books include The Look: Adventures in Rock & Pop Fashion, Mr Freedom – Tommy Roberts: British Design Hero, The Life & Times of Malcolm McLaren and The Wild World of Barney Bubbles. The paperback of his latest book, Totally Wired: The Rise & Fall of the Music Press was published in summer 2023. 

 Gorman has written for many of the world’s leading publications and curated exhibitions in the UK, continental Europe and the US. 

As an artist and educator, Shannon Thomson‘s current body of work delves into the intricate relationship between pedagogy and creative expression, shedding light on the transformative power of arts education. 

Thomson’s work currently draws inspiration from art school archives, most recently Birmingham School of Art. 

Through examining archival material, Thomson seeks to unravel the complex narrative of educational systems and their influence on shaping artistic identity. 

A Microsoft Word version of this information, including floor plan of space is available to download here.

Accessibility Guidance

This accessibility guidance was written in collaboration with Onyeka Igwe, Bonington Gallery and Collective Text.

Exhibition Information

history is a living weapon in yr hand is captioned and audio described. The two-channel film in the exhibition has animated captions which include sound descriptions.

There is an audio described introduction to the exhibition that can be accessed here.

There is an audio described introduction accompanied by imagery from the exhibition that can be accessed here.

At the gallery, audio description can be accessed via radio frequency headsets with two channels. A switch beside the volume slider enables you to flick between channel 1 which plays the audio described introduction linked above and channel 2 which plays the exhibition audio description synced to the film and props. There will be two listening stations for audio description, at the front entrance to the right of the stairs and at the back of the gallery next to the accessible lift entrance. An invigilator will provide you with headphones, you can remain at these listening stations or can be assisted to the viewing benches in front of the screens by an invigilator. There are tactile pathway guidelines that direct you to the props in the exhibition, assistance can also alternatively be provided by an invigilator.

Please note that the exhibition space is dark. The film and/or spotlights are the primary light source. Sound plays in the space at a high volume. Let us know in advance if you require the room to be brighter or a lower volume.

The props in the exhibition are illuminated by a timed lighting system. Each prop has a distinct lighting colour and is accompanied by the sound “ACTION” which is captioned on the screens the first time it happens in the sequence, afterwards you are encouraged to move around the space.

The total running time of the exhibition is 32 minutes. There will be large print exhibition guides available through the invigilators.

The gallery is wheelchair accessible. General Access Information for the gallery is available here

For any additional questions or access needs contact Tom Godfrey: tom.godfrey@ntu.ac.uk

Onyeka Igwe is a London-born and based moving image artist and researcher.

Her work is aimed at the question: how do we live together? Not to provide a rigid answer as such, but to pull apart the nuances of mutuality, co-existence and multiplicity.

Onyeka’s practice figures sensorial, spatial and counter-hegemonic ways of knowing as central to that task. For her, the body, archives and narratives both oral and textual act as a mode of enquiry that makes possible the exposition of overlooked histories.

She has had solo/duo shows at MoMA PS1, New York (2023), High Line, New York (2022), Mercer Union, Toronto (2021), Jerwood Arts, London (2019) and Trinity Square Video, London (2018). Her films have screened in numerous group shows and film festivals worldwide.

Currently, she is Practitioner in Residence at the University of the Arts London and she will participate in the group show ‘Nigeria Imaginary’ in the national pavilion of Nigeria at the upcoming 60th Venice Biennial in 2024. She was awarded the New Cinema Award at Berwick Film and Media Arts Festival 2019, 2020 Arts Foundation Fellowship, 2021 Foundwork Artist Prize and has been nominated for the 2022 Jarman Award and Max Mara Artist Prize for Women. Onyeka is represented by Arcadia Missa Gallery.

Peer is a not-for-profit free-to-access space for contemporary art, located in the neighbourhood of Hoxton in East London. They place artists, young people and local communities at the heart of their internationally recognised programmes of public exhibitions held in their street-facing gallery, an ongoing series of workshops, talks and events, as well as offsite artist commissions produced in the local area.