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Sunday Reads: Losses

Posted: June 14, 2020 | Author: | Filed under: just because |3 Comments

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On 14 June 2017, artist Khadija Saye was killed in the fire at Grenfell Tower. Nak Bejjen, meaning cow horn, is a photograph from her series 'Dwelling: in this space we breathe' 2017. Originally numbering between twenty and thirty wet plate collodion tintype photographs, only six works from the series remain, most of them having been destroyed in the same fire in which the artist died. The works depict Saye as the subject of portraits in which she enacts invented rituals using objects from her parents’ country of origin, Gambia, whilst clothed in outfits belonging to her mother. Having been raised in a dual faith household with a Muslim father and Christian mother, Saye was conscious of the role which faith can play in determining identity. Saye discussed how significant religion often is for members of diasporas attempting to maintain connections to homes left behind. The work calls into question the rituals or objects that we turn to for solace in life’s most challenging moments. 🖤 The process of producing wet plate collodion tintypes is easily affected by elements outside the artist’s control; in order to create the work, Saye surrendered herself to a higher power. In a disposable age, Saye’s use of this photographic technique reminds us to dwell in the moment and foster our inner connections. ​ ​Khadija Saye, Nak Bejjen 2017, Tate collection. ​ ​These words were written by Aïcha Mehrez, Tate's Curator of Contemporary British Art. @aichamehrez

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Some losses are unbearable…

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Remembering Khadija Saye 💚 The supremely talented Gambian-British artist who tragically died in the Grenfell Tower fire on 14 June 2017, aged just 24. The youngest exhibitor in the Diaspora Pavilion at the 2017 Venice Biennale, where her works were shown alongside the likes of Isaac Julien and Yinka Shonibare.

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3 Comments on “Sunday Reads: Losses”

  1. quixote says:
    June 14, 2020 at 11:14 am

    How are you doing, JJ? The move is probably as over as it’s going to be for now, and you’re sitting surrounded by boxes wondering where you packed most of the spoons.

    At least, that’s what I’m doing. I moved over a year ago but I’m so fed up with organizing and boxing and unboxing and finding-yet-more-things-I-should-have-thrown-out-the-first-time and organizing that almost everything is still in boxes and I can’t bear to deal with it.

  2. dakinikat says:
    June 14, 2020 at 3:02 pm

    Hi JJ!

    Here’s a read for you!!!!!

  3. dakinikat says:
    June 14, 2020 at 3:26 pm

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