MAY – SEPTEMBER 2024
TRANSFORM season marks a milestone in our ambition to transform leadership in the creative and cultural landscape.
The inauguration of the VOICE Assembly, the world’s first permanent Citizen Assembly as a core part of a cultural institution’s leadership structure, is at the forefront.
This pioneering model empowers our local community to guide NAE’s direction with their diverse voice.
We also initiate and lead the ‘TRANSFORM, a City Takeover.’ This unique collaborative initiative was born from conversations with Nottingham’s vibrant cultural organisations. Our collective mission is to spotlight and support Global Ethnic Majority talent and leadership across the arts in Nottingham.
As part of this city-wide celebration, we’re co-creating a festival that not only highlights the creativity and leadership of the Global Ethnic Majority artists but also
challenges and expands the narrative of art and culture in the city. It’s a testament to our shared commitment to forge a legacy of diversity and innovation.
Finally, we celebrate the launch of ‘WHAT WOULD I BE WITHOUT EVERYBODY?’.
Led by Associate Artistic Director Saziso Phiri, this is the culmination of her past 18 months at New Art Exchange, reflecting on leadership and further expanding her acute curatorial practice.
Join us at New Art Exchange for TRANSFORM — a season of innovative art, compelling conversations, and community celebration.
Together, we’re not just witnessing change; we’re driving it!
Saad-Eddine Said
CEO and Artistic Director NewArt Exchange
Tue - Sat 10am - 4pm
Closed Sun & Mon Closed Bank Holidays
www.nae.org.uk
0115 924 8630 info@nae.org.uk GALLERY & CAFÉBAR OPENING TIMES
Artists list:
Aaron Greco
Alexandra Su Yin Hon
Alexis Chabala
Andre Kong
Bims Ayorinde
Broken Glass
Christopher Samuel
Craig Humpston
Dana Church
Duong Thuy Nguyen
Eelyn Lee
Elaheh Raofi
Gayatri Pasricha
Gayi Soori
Gayatri Pasricha
Grace Eden
Habib Hajallie
Heather Agyepong
Imrana Tanveer
Jasmine Dhingra
Jasper Pedyo
Jenny Ping Lam Lin
Kim Walker
Circle Lok Ling Yuen
Madara Vimba
Unu Lucky Mamu
Misha Milovanovich
Mustafa Boga
Nick Mobbs
Suman Guyral
Remi Rana Allen
Seph Li
Serena Ramjee
Seungjo Jeong
Sherrie Edgar
Thomas Ince
Veronica Poje
Wei Zhou
Snow Xueyi Huang
Yuqian Li
Zory Shahrokhi
The NAE Open returns for its fourth iteration with a presentation of works that includes paintings, video, live art, photography, textiles, and sculpture. This dynamic exhibition was created through a competitive open application process for Nottinghamshire-based artists and Global Ethnic Majority* artists living anywhere in the UK. Tasked to seek out the most innovative and highquality artworks that address key societal concerns and interests, a panel of advocates, including neighbours, artists, and curators, chose from a substantive number of submissions. The result is an eclectic and compelling selection of artists at different stages of their careers. The artworks speak to contemporary conversations that align with NAE’s mission. They range from personal accounts of migration, what it means to belong within a society and responses to political and cultural viewpoints on race and gender identity, to name a few. The exhibition also celebrates Nottingham through its people and economic landscape.
Beyond the exhibition itself, six prizes will be awarded, which include exhibition and residency opportunities at NAE and opportunities with this year’s Open partnersQuad/ Format Festival, Nottingham Contemporary and Primary.
*NAE defines Global Ethnic Majority as a collective term that refers to people who are Black, Asian, Brown, dual heritage, indigenous to the global south, and or have been racialised as ethnic minorities.
Image credits (Clockwise from left to right):
Heather Agyepong. Ego Death
2023 Photographic prints
Wei Zhou. Holiday Paradise
2023 Single channel video
Remi Rana Allen. Killer Queen
2022 Stone, Indian hair extensions, tape, bindi, thread and wire. © Antonio Palmieri at The British School at Rome.
Elaheh Raofi. Pirouz
2024 Second-hand chair, wooden clock structure and tapestry © Ian Reynolds
Snow Xueyi Huang. Nº 27 Tong Poo Road
2023 Single channel projection
Serena Ramjee. Goodness
2023 Acrylic on canvas
Craig Humpston. Data In The Dust
2024 Reused materials, plywood decoupage, enamel pain
Imrana Tanveer. Ode To Heaven (21)
2024 Inkjet print, golden Zari thread, hand woven
These exhibitions are part of What Would I Be Without Everybody? a curated exhibition exploring themes of care and community. Learn more and see the full programme listing online at nae.org.uk/wwibwe. You can also pick up a programme brochure at NAE.
25 MAY – 24 AUGUST
A new series of paintings by Nottingham artist Kim Thompson recaptures and upscales the beauty and depth present in the experiences of nine Nottingham residents of Caribbean descent, some of whom include the artist’s family. The paintings steer away from recent common narratives of trauma while also placing a spotlight on the existence of black life in a regional British city. Water into Wine encourages us to rethink our perspectives on stories often disregarded within the contemporary art gallery or museum context and to find relativity and connection within our own lives.
Commissioned by New Art Exchange with funds from Arts Council England.
6 JUNE, 7PM–9PM
Close The App, Make The Ting, is an exploration of the ideas Elijah, a Londonbased writer, DJ, artist manager, and cofounder of the iconic record label Butterz, shares regularly in his project the ‘Yellow Squares’ on Instagram (@Eli1ah).
In this lecture, Elijah will cover creating art within your means, using social media as a canvas and challenging industry standards. The lecture will include a Q+A segment to interrogate these ideas so many perspectives are heard and considered.
This session has been delivered across the UK and internationally in India, Brazil, New Zealand, Spain, Germany, Norway, Belgium and Japan.
For access requests, please email saziso@nae.org.uk by Friday 31 May.
AGE +16
EXHIBITION TOUR: KIM THOMPSON
6 JUNE, 1PM–3PM
Join artist Kim Thompson for a tour of her exhibition, Water into Wine. She will share the inspiration behind her work, discuss her process, and explain how the pieces were developed. There will also be an opportunity for questions. For access requests, please email saziso@nae.org.uk by Friday 28 June.
ALL AGES
GUGULETHU (2024)
22 JUNE, 10AM–4PM
PERFORMANCE SPACE
All-day drop-in screening of a new short film by Baobab Pictures and Brownstone Studios. One fateful night, Musa is ready to end his life on a bridge but is saved by the loving words of a stranger, Nandi. This unconventional encounter opens up the door to a new relationship. The production of this film has been supported by New Art Exchange, using funds from Arts Council England.
CONTENT WARNING: Suicidal tendencies, discussions of child abuse, maternal mortality.
AGE +12
11 JULY, 7PM-9PM
PERFORMANCE SPACE
Experience the rich storytelling of Reggae music through its lyrics with curator, DJ, and producer Jayson Wynters in this immersive listening event. Jayson will guide you through a thoughtfully curated playlist of Reggae records, ranging from renowned classics to undiscovered gems, while exploring their meanings. Attendees are encouraged to join in the discussion with Jayson after each track, enhancing the understanding and appreciation of this influential genre.
AGE +16
14 AUGUST, 6:30PM–8PM
PERFORMANCE SPACE
Vibrant colour and bold text combine in Lakwena Maciver’s joyful and gently subversive work. Her paintings, murals and installations often reference everyday shared experiences and popular culture, such as songs, fashion and basketball. Bringing messages of hopeful possibility, Lakwena speaks to points of connection and commonality between people, with a utopian vision that dreams of redemption and liberation.
ALL AGES
24 AUGUST, 7PM-10PM
MADE IN ZWE presents this immersive event masterfully led by Sekuru, a renowned mbira artist, cultural educator and custodian of Zimbabwean musical heritage, who, along with his ensemble, will guide audiences on an auditory journey of mbira melodies. Munashe Chirisa, an adept storyteller, will weave narratives that illuminate the significance of oral traditions, connecting listeners to the ancestral roots of Zimbabwean society. This event transforms the Performance Space into a communal Zimbabwean village, where audiences are enveloped in the ‘heartbeat’ of the nation’s rich cultural tapestry.
ALL AGES
RESIDE is a residency programme that invites artists and creative groups to take up residency at NAE where they can collaborate and connect with our wider community to generate inspiring ideas, develop new initiatives, and nurture their practice. NAE will be hosting three residing artists or creative communities within the artist studio space.
8 MAY - 2 JULY
2024 marks Nottingham Black Archive’s (NBA) 15th anniversary, and NBA aims to add texture to the literary landscape in Nottingham during this celebratory year, particularly the voices of Black women who are often ignored. ‘Write Black to the Beginning II’ aims to raise awareness of socially engaged Black women writers and creatives who were connected to NG7 between the 1970s and 1990s. This project will amplify and highlight their contribution to the city’s literary and creative scene.
SATURDAY 11 MAY 2024, 1-4 PM &
SATURDAY 25 MAY 2024, 1-4PM
Find out what Nottingham Black Archive— an organisation dedicated to researching, collecting, and documenting Black history, heritage, and culture in Nottingham—holds in its collection of Black women writers and creatives connected to NG7. Become part of history by donating or sharing artefacts (books, photographs, leaflets) relating to Black women writers and creatives with a connection to NG7 between the 1970s and 1990s. We want to know what Black women created and what impact this has had on the community. There will be a scanning facility for visitors to share and deposit personal collections and photographs.
Nottingham Black Archive is proud to launch a commemorative publication as part of the Nottingham Poetry Festival to mark 15 years of surfacing ignored voices and highlight the disparity in the under representation of Black people as curators of their own history. An anthology of Black writers and creatives featuring work by Morag Williams, Lilleth Clarke, Stanley O. Ayodeji, Ainsley Deer and many more.
10 JULY – 4 SEPTEMBER 2024
Falade has the intention to create a new work based on the Reinvention of oneself, including exploring the different versions of self that have been created throughout their life, leading to the current day, a performance piece monologue/dance and spoken word based around personal experiences. Delving into topics that are relatable to the community but that are rarely spoken about or discussed. Topics such as surviving abusive childhoods, mental health issues, overcoming these and rising from the ashes. Reinventing of one’s true self. Exploring identity and the cultural differences between being Caribbean vs being seen as Black or black British. The work will all be based on lived experiences as a 40+ woman living in Nottingham, tracing back to being born in Trinidad and being brought here to the UK to live as a young child. Reinvention - ReflectionThe Roles enforced onto her and the freedom she fought so hard (mentally) to achieve. The triumphs over the trauma.
23 MAY, 4:30PM–7PM
Join New Art Exchange in celebrating Transform, and the vibrant and exciting culture of Hyson Green. Expect mouth-watering street food, an array of creative activities, face painting, mehndi, performances from NAE’s YARD young people’s theatre, and a great live music line up from their Under the Spotlight artists and the Dream Sixty Choir. New Art Exchange, alongside their community partners, will also be launching some very exciting new murals on the walls of the marketplace.
EVERYONE IS WELCOME | FREE
24 MAY, FROM 6PM TILL LATE NAE CAFÉBAR
Please join us to celebrate the launch of this year’s NAE OPEN season. The event will feature live music, DJ Princess Trium, and lots of networking opportunities.
EVERYONE IS WELCOME | FREE
6 JUNE, 11AM–2PM
We come together with Global Ethnic Majority leaders to challenge conventional narratives of leadership within cultural institutions. Throughout the day, NAE will platform guest speakers who represent exciting national models of transformation to share insights through their unique lenses of governance, curation, executive leadership, and legacy.
27 JULY, FROM 6PM TILL LATE
Join us for an evening of art, music and drinks to celebrate all of the artists presented in the NAE OPEN 2024. The winners will be awarded a variety of prizes, which include the Exhibition Prize and Residency Prize from NAE, the Judges Prize chosen by this year’s panel of respected advocates, and prizes from this year’s NAE Open partners.
EVERYONE IS WELCOME | FREE
31 MAY FROM 7PM–11PM
NAE CAFÉBAR
Join us for an electrifying evening as Fluentinboth proudly presents Vol 4 — an event that transcends boundaries, celebrating the fusion of local artistry and the enchanting world of multilingual poetry. Prepare to be captivated as we intertwine the rhythms of poetry with the melodies of music, crafting an experience that is as unforgettable as it is unique. Our stage will be graced by the talents of Nina Rosa Pinto, Sara-Louise, Nick Em, and the phenomenal Jay Sandhu, each bringing their own distinct flair to the night.
Don’t miss your chance to be part of this unparalleled experience. Join us and immerse yourself in an evening of creativity, passion, and connection.
TICKETED EVENT – £5
14 JUNE FROM 7PM–11PM
NAE CAFÉBAR
As part of the Nottingham Poetry Festival, we are celebrating Benjamin Zephaniah’s legacy at New Art Exchange through “Eat Your Words,” a poignant tribute to the renowned writer and activist. Join us for an evening where artists intertwine Zephaniah’s poetry with their own, creating a tapestry of creativity and remembrance hosted by the one and only Chris Oliver. You will experience soul-stirring recitations as artists honour Zephaniah’s profound influence alongside their own poetic compositions. “Eat Your Words” invites you to immerse yourself in the power of storytelling and the transformative nature of words with some music performance in the mix.
FREE EVENT
For 2024, the Nottingham Mela program will feature as part of a city-wide season of activity called Transform.
HERE ARE THE EVENTS WE HAVE PREPARED FOR YOU THIS YEAR:
MELA SPECIAL
5 SEPTEMBER FROM 5PM–7 PM
The Nottingham Mela will take over NAE’s Community Café! Come and enjoy a pay-what-you-can meal inspired by the tantalising flavours of South Asia!
NO BOOKING REQUIRED, WHILE STOCKS LASTPAY WHAT YOU CAN (ALL AGES WELCOME)
6 SEPTEMBER FROM 6PM–9PM
NAE’s Café Bar is opening up to showcase some amazing emerging South Asian talent, from Musicians to Poets and Comedians. Following an open call, a host of South Asian identities and voices are ready to kick-start your Friday night! The bar will also feature an open mic section for inspired individuals to share the limelight.
BOOKING REQUIRED | FREE | AGE +18
7 SEPTEMBER FROM 6PM–8PM
Back by popular demand, String Beats! Prepare to be regaled, mesmerised, and hypnotised by the classical sounds of the Sarangi, Sitar and Tabla. Ranging from soothing, meditative Indian Classical Ragas to iconic and contemporary Bollywood and Indian Folk songs to crowd-pleasing smash hits, be sure not to miss these master musician.
BOOKING REQUIRED | FREE | ALL AGES WELCOME
WE WILL ALSO HAVE OUR USUAL CELEBRATION AT WOLLATON PARK ON 8 SEPTEMBER — STAY TUNED ON OUR SOCIALS FOR MORE INFO.
For decades, the Nottingham Mela has epitomised the harmonious confluence of cultures, showcasing the vibrant heritage of South Asia while embracing the city’s multicultural spirit. As the UK’s oldest Mela, this event has woven itself into the fabric of Nottingham’s identity, attracting thousands of attendees annually. Together with NAE’s key mission of stimulating new perspectives on the value of diversity in art and society, we are continuing to support work centred around the Global Ethnic Majority*.
Desi Sounds is scheduled for Friday, 6 September 2024, 6-9 p.m. We are calling out to all emerging South Asian musicians, singers, rappers, comics (and more) to apply to perform at this event.
APPLY ON OUR WEBSITE HERE: WWW.NAE.ORG.UK/CURRENT-OPPORTUNITIES/
The YOUnique Programme is an opportunity to learn how to become a Festival and/or Event Producer. YOUnique enables you to share your ideas, nurture your creativity, develop your skills, and create impactful events within the arts in collaboration with other members of the collective.
If you’re interested in a career as a festival and event producer? Then the YOUnique programme may be for you.
APPLY ON OUR WEBSITE HERE: WWW.NAE.ORG.UK/CURRENT-OPPORTUNITIES/
YOUNGER YARD (8 – 11 YEARS OLD)
TUESDAY - FRIDAY, 30 JULY – 02 AUGUST FROM 10AM–3PM
OLDER YARD (12 – 18 YEARS OLD)
TUESDAY - FRIDAY, 13 AUGUST – 16 AUGUST FROM 10AM–3PM
Join us this summer for a week of creativity, fun and performance!
At our Arts Summer Club, young people will develop their creative skills through games, storymaking,and drama exercises. At the end of the week, they will share their own original show based on what they have learnt. Our Summer Club is a great way to make new friends, express yourself and learn something new.
JOIN US: The week is FREE and open to all; you don’t need to have any experience in drama, dance or singing; just come along and give it a go!
PLEASE BOOK YOUR PLACE IN ADVANCE. TO FIND OUT MORE, CONTACT YARD@NAE.ORG.UK
YOUNGER YARD (8 – 11 YEARS OLD) (TUESDAYS 4.15 PM-6.15 PM)
TERM DATES: MAY 7 & 14, JUNE 4, 11, 18 & 26
OLDER YARD (12 – 18 YEARS OLD) (WEDNESDAYS 5P-7PM)
TERM DATES: MAY 8 & 1, JUNE5, 12, 19 & 27
YARD is a creative and supportive hub for young people to come together, develop their skills in theatre and performance, devise their own work, explore new ideas, and work with a diverse range of professional artists.
NEW MEMBERS WELCOME COME ALONG AND TRY A SESSION
TO FIND OUT MORE, CONTACT US YARD@NAE.ORG.UK
1 MAY, 18 MAY, 8 JUNE, 29 JUNE, 13 JULY, 27 JULY 10, 17 & 31 AUGUST 7 & 21 SEPTEMBER FROM 10:30AM–12:30PM
Kickstart your Saturday this Summer with these free drop-in creative workshops, which make space for creative learning and lots of fun. Artist-led activities change each session. It is a perfect chance to get creative as a family.
FREE AND OPEN TO ALL. COME ALONG AND TRY A SESSION. TO FIND OUT MORE, CONTACT MICHAEL@NAE.ORG.UK
TO FIND OUT MORE, CONTACT YARD@NAE.ORG.UK
Choose from a menu of 100% plant-based world food-inspired lunches, light bites and sweet treats.
10% STUDENT DISCOUNT WITH A VALID NUS CARD
. Check out the sample menu on our website nae.org.uk or scan the QR code with your camera phone
5-7pm twice monthly: 2 May, 16 May, 6 June, 20 June, 4 July, 18 July, 1 August, 15 August, 5 September, 19 September
Providing a community meal, where you pay only what you can afford. Enjoy a different delicious plant-based meal each month. ALL WELCOME | NO BOOKING REQUIRED
HEAR ABOUT EXHIBITIONS, EVENTS, NEWS AND SPECIAL OFFERS STRAIGHT INTO YOUR INBOX
OPENING TIMES TUE-SAT 10AM-4PM CLOSED BANK HOLIDAYS
Join the NAE Mailing List at nae.org.uk or scan the QR code using the camera on your phone
