Join us for a tour of Rooted Through Realms led by curators Shaheen + Aaisha followed by an informal in-conversation with Hudda Khaireh
During the tour, Shaheen and Aaisha will share their curatorial approach to the Rooted Through Realms, which has been informed by the practice of Warmth and deep dialogue over the last three years. Together, they have explored themes of divine justice, mercy, and life-affirming ways of seeing in relation to this earthly plane.
The tour will be followed by an in-conversation element led by Hudda Khaireh, drawing on the speculative and unseen aspects of the show.
About the show
Rooted Through Realms, is a solo exhibition featuring a new body of work by artist Shaheen Kasmani. This exhibition calls upon us to bear witness and connect the dots between ongoing settler colonialism, climate change, and local and global injustices, whilst also encouraging us to employ our senses and otherworldly faculties to collectively imagine new possibilities as inspired by the gardens of paradise.
This exhibition was made possible with support from Arts Council England. Shaheen’s residency and Ort Gallery’s professional development work in the lead up to the exhibition were generously supported by Arts Council England and Paul Hamlyn Foundation.
Shaheen Kasmani is an artist, creative producer, curator and educator. With a MA in Visual Traditional & Islamic Arts, her interests lie in narratives around coloniality and heritage, art, architecture and patterns. Shaheen was the lead curator for the Ramadan Pavilion at the V&A Museum, and co-curated The Past is Now exhibition at Birmingham Museum. She has exhibited her work in the UK and Europe, and guest lectures at universities in the US.
@shaheen.kasmani
Aaisha Akhtar is a Birmingham-based curator, writer, and producer. She currently serves as Artistic Lead at Ort Gallery (2021 – present), where she works with artists and creatives, supporting them in their professional development and artistic practice via Warmth. Beyond her role at Ort Gallery, she is a custodian at Birmingham Resistance Library. Her interests include, but are not limited to, anti-colonial/alternative and care-centred approaches to making, producing, and engaging with art and literature, as well as pop culture, the gaze, disability, language, libraries and emotion.
Hudda Khaireh is an independent researcher, lecturer and artist with a background in Public International Law whose practice focuses on the position of Black peoples globally. Hudda has shared work at Tate Modern and Tate Britain, Printroom Rotterdam, Chisenhale Gallery and DIY Cultures. Hudda belongs to the Black Feminist artist-collective, Thick/er Black Lines, as well as OOMK Zine and Numbi Arts. At Numbi, Hudda is an associate artist and project manager, and is working on establishing the Somali Museum UK.
Ort Gallery is a community-led visual arts and poetry organisation practising equity in the minutiae of our daily work. We create spaces for artists and communities to slow down, unlearn, and rebuild ways of working grounded in care, access and collective wellbeing.
Friction Arts is a Birmingham-based arts organisation creating socially engaged projects and programmes from its home at The Edge in Deritend/Highgate. Since 2004, Friction has worked with communities to help people find their voice, tell their stories, build confidence and explore the world and their place within it. Our work is responsive and collaborative, using creative approaches to support individual and social change.
Access: The venue has step-free access, baby-changing facilities and a working lift. The exhibition is scheduled to take place in the Red Studio, which is accessible via one flight of stairs.
Prayer mats will be available for those who wish to pray onsite.
Further information, including details on how to get to the venue, can be found here.