The World Reimagined Globes Inspire New Creative Project in Cornwall
The five artists taking part in Reimaginings. From left to right: Catherine Lucktaylor, Angeline Morrison, Libita Sibungu, Maria Christoforidou, Caroline Deeds. Image courtesy of the artist Libita Sibungu, Deep Recovery, (2023) documented by Liz Howell.
In the spirit of the gift of the Globe given to University of Exeter by The World Reimagined, the University of Exeter’s Arts and Culture team and Equality Diversity and Inclusion team in Cornwall are funding a new creative initiative.
Reimaginings gives space to five female mixed-heritage Cornwall-based artists to forge a deepening connection to each other and their own individual practice – to get some space to research, reflect, and experiment. These artists, in varying ways and disciplines, work with ancestral and indigenous knowledges, and autoethnographic narratives of diasporic identity.
It offers the chance for these women to work individually and together, navigating the fictional and archival historical presence of people of African descent in Europe, through creative spiritual practices connecting to land, elements and materials of the more-than-human world.
Dr Lucy Frears, Programme Manager (maternity cover) for the Arts and Culture, University of Exeter team in Cornwall added “Events in the last decade and the global movements they sparked, such as #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter, have exposed systemic prejudice and abuse of power and I know from my research into equity, diversity and inclusion in the arts and culture sector that female artists of colour have been historically marginalised. To continue to address this, Arts and Culture, University of Exeter, has decided to provide some space for five women, five artists of mixed disciplines, practices and heritage who live in Cornwall, to connect.”
The project supports the University’s commitment to acknowledge the history, legacy and future of the Transatlantic Trade in Enslaved Africans, as well as Arts and Culture’s desire to confront and counter structural and institutional racism in Britain while acknowledging intersectionality.
Rae Preston, University of Exeter DI Programme Manager for Cornwall said “Events to welcome the Globes gifted to the University by The World Reimagined last year inspired us to think more deeply and creatively about our collective histories and how the themes represented by the Globes manifest in place, specifically in the unique context of contemporary Cornwall. We’re delighted that the legacy of the gift of the Globes continues in the collective work of the five incredible artists that comprise Reimaginings, and we look forward to journeying alongside them and the Arts and Culture team as this vital creative space develops.””
The five creative practitioners that the University will be working with are; Maria Christoforidou, a Zambian Greek artist, writer and lecturer in Fine Art at Falmouth University, Caroline Deeds, a Ghanaian/British filmmaker, artist and lecturer based in West Cornwall, Catherine Lucktaylor, a ceramic artist who creates vibrant Raku ceramics in her studio in Penzance, Angelin Morrison, an award-winning folk singer/songwriter and multi- instrumentalist; and finally multidisciplinary artist Libita Sibungu, who draws on her British-Cornish-Nambian heritage to create her work.
On behalf of the collective, artist Libita Sibungu said “We are here, daring to dream — reimagining a future where we write ourselves in. Calling out to the imaginary, planting seeds in the spirit of our afro-diasporic ancestors. We are connecting and deepening our roots, aligning with the energies of our chosen home, Cornwall. Weaving together a supportive net which inspires and holds our collective hopes.”
Reimaginings is a partnership between Arts and Culture, University of Exeter and the University of Exeter’s Equity Diversity and Inclusion Cornwall team on Penryn campus.
You can find out more and keep up to date with how the project progresses here.
