Exhibitions
Rider Shafique and Vanley Burke: Beating back the Past - extract
The world’s oldest surviving music from the voices of enslaved people on the sugar plantations of Barbados inspired this astonishing exhibition.
Exhibition opening night: Friday 25th October 6-8pm
The world’s oldest surviving music from the voices of enslaved people on the sugar plantations of Barbados inspired this astonishing exhibition, originally shown in Gloucester Cathedral September 2024.
The 18th century ‘slave song’ is a UNESCO world heritage document, held in Gloucestershire Archives. This is the inspiration for Beating Back the Past.
SVA will share some key elements from the exhibit, by Rider Shafique, a Gloucester artist of Bajan descent, and Vanley Burke,renowned Caribbean born photographer and artist exploring the impact of the transatlantic slave trade from their viewpoint as descendants of Caribbean enslaved people. Together they considered the challenging themes of torture, inherited trauma and the ongoing legacy of chattel slavery.
The exhibiton will feature Resist - (The song of the enslaved), a soundscape that responds directly to the slave song; and Resist Shrine installation which draws upon Rider’s Bajan family history as well as his personal experiences of exploring the complexities of identity, race and racism while living in the UK.
Vanley will share artworks from the interior of Torture and Trauma : Made In Great Britain. The orginal artwork featured a Chattel House created from garments collected from the African Caribbean community as a visceral metaphor for their skin - through which the artist invited audiences to ‘ Tek a glimpse inside’ to understand the intergenerational trauma inflicted upon enslaved African families during centuries of colonial oppression.
This is a Voices Gloucester project
The world’s oldest surviving music from the voices of enslaved people on the sugar plantations of Barbados inspired this astonishing exhibition, originally shown in Gloucester Cathedral September 2024.
The 18th century ‘slave song’ is a UNESCO world heritage document, held in Gloucestershire Archives. This is the inspiration for Beating Back the Past.
SVA will share some key elements from the exhibit, by Rider Shafique, a Gloucester artist of Bajan descent, and Vanley Burke,renowned Caribbean born photographer and artist exploring the impact of the transatlantic slave trade from their viewpoint as descendants of Caribbean enslaved people. Together they considered the challenging themes of torture, inherited trauma and the ongoing legacy of chattel slavery.
The exhibiton will feature Resist - (The song of the enslaved), a soundscape that responds directly to the slave song; and Resist Shrine installation which draws upon Rider’s Bajan family history as well as his personal experiences of exploring the complexities of identity, race and racism while living in the UK.
Vanley will share artworks from the interior of Torture and Trauma : Made In Great Britain. The orginal artwork featured a Chattel House created from garments collected from the African Caribbean community as a visceral metaphor for their skin - through which the artist invited audiences to ‘ Tek a glimpse inside’ to understand the intergenerational trauma inflicted upon enslaved African families during centuries of colonial oppression.
This is a Voices Gloucester project
