Programme
12pm-7pm: Conservatory takeover (free)
Step inside our lush conservatory that transforms into a space for collective reflection on the significance of the personal as political, and on archives as powerful sites of transformation.
Free, but ticketed. Reserve your entry slot in advance of your visit.
12pm-1.30pm, Frobisher Auditorium 1: In Conversation: Black Worlding (£15)
Grammy Award-winning artist and director Jenn Nkiru joins Alberta Whittle and Phoebe Boswell to talk about intersectional creativity and "Black Worlding", moderated by Tina Campt.
Find out more and book.
3.15-3.45pm: James Massiah poetry performance (free)
Poet and writer James Massiah responds to the work of Noah Davis in this intimate poetry reading in the Conservatory Well.
Free, but ticketed. Reserve your entry slot in advance of your visit.
4-5.30pm: Attuning to the Frequencies of Black Life – Tina Campt, Julianknxx and THAB (free)
Join us for an intimate afternoon of conversation and live performance, centred on the theme of attuning to the frequencies and intensities that accompany black life – both historically and in the contemporary moment. Tina Campt describes this as a practice of thoughtful and attentive listening. Julianknxx locates this practice in the realm of Bantutronic – a genre and philosophy founded by the poet, artist, and filmmaker, alongside musician THABO. Together they will dialogue in a choral exchange of vocal and musical soundings where conversation flows organically into performance, live improvisation, and cross-collaboration.
Free, but ticketed. Reserve your entry slot in advance of your visit.
Biographies
James Massiah
James Massiah is a poet and musician from South London, whose work explores ideas about sexuality, mortality and hedonism through performance, writing & visual media. His ongoing series of New Poems is released in volumes and details his day-to-day experiences of life, love and labour in London.
His has produced work for the BBC, Guardian, Dior, Nike, Lotus and more, and has performed at Tate Modern, the Courtauld and the Houses of Parliament, among other places.
Julian Knxx
Julianknxx is a poet, artist and filmmaker whose expansive practice is rooted in poetry and extends into performance, film, music and sculpture. Born in Freetown, Sierra Leone, Julianknxx draws on personal experiences to broaden perspectives on the history and culture of Africa and its diasporas.
Inspired by oral history traditions and working with a distinctive aesthetic approach, his films invite us to consider how we construct both local and global narratives, while reflecting on how it feels to exist in liminal spaces. His work has been shown at galleries and museums worldwide, with his acclaimed first solo show ‘Chorus In Rememory of Flight’ here at the Barbican.
THABO
Thabo is a musician and interdisciplinary artist whose practice is rooted in the Bantutronic philosophy, co-founded with Julianknxx. This philosophy explores and celebrates Bantu culture 500 years into the past and 500 years into the future, offering a world-building framework for immersive and multidimensional storytelling. Over his career, Thabo has transitioned from a dedicated musician to an interdisciplinary creator, collaborating on music, film, installation and performance. Collaborative projects with Julianknxx and Akeelah Bertram have led to presentations at leading institutions such as Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Leeds Art Gallery, Tate Modern, and the Barbican, among others.
Tina Campt
Tina M. Campt is Roger S. Berlind Professor of Humanities at Princeton University. She is a black feminist theorist of visual culture and contemporary art who has published five books including A Black Gaze, Listening to Images, Image Matters, and Other Germans. She received the 2020 Photography Catalogue of the Year Award and the 2024 Photographic Studies Award from the Royal Anthropological Institute.
Alberta Whittle
Alberta Whittle, borni in Bridgetown, Barbados, lives and works in Glasgow. After studying Fine Art at Edinburgh College of Art, she completed a Master’s degree at Glasgow School of Art in 2011. Alberta received her PhD from the University of Edinburgh in 2024 and is currently a Research Associate at The University of Johannesburg in South Africa.
Phoebe Boswell
Phoebe Boswell, born in Nairobi, Kenya, lives and works in London. They are a British/Kenyan multidisciplinary artist moving between drawing, painting, film, installation, sound, and writing. Her work is held and exhibited in public institutions globally, she received the Paul Hamlyn Award for Artists and was the Bridget Riley Drawing Fellow at the British School of Rome in 2019, received the Lumière Award from the Royal Photographic Society in 2021, and was Whitechapel Gallery’s 2022 writer-in-residence.
