Sheida Soleimani, Delara (1), 20153. © Sheida Soleimani. Courtesy of Edel Assanti
Click here to read the full transcription of the panel talk.
Using the works in Acts of Resistance: Feminisms, Photography and the Art of Protest exhibition as a prompt, this event explores the question;
What is a feminist act of resistance?
How are feminist acts produced? What do they respond to? What is their role in transforming the world around us?
The public programme for Acts of Resistance is curated by Lola Olufemi. Ru Kaur will explore these questions in a 30 minute lecture/performance followed by a panel discussion with artists Sofia Karim, Sheida Soleimani and Rafeef Ziadah, chaired by Lola Olufemi.
Maqam books, a locally owned and independent youth led radical bookshop will be selling feminist titles at this event.
ABOUT SOFIA KARIM
Sofia Karim has practiced architecture for over 20 years at studios including Norman Foster’s in London and Peter Eisenman’s in New York. Her practice combines architecture, visual art, and activism. The incarceration of her uncle (photographer and activist Shahidul Alam) led to the development of her theories on an ‘Architecture of Disappearance’. She explores architecture as a language of struggle and resistance. Her activism focuses on human rights across Bangladesh and India. She campaigns for the release of imprisoned artists and political prisoners. She is the founder of Turbine Bagh, a joint artists’ movement against fascism and authoritarianism and platform for political art and activism.
ABOUT RU KAUR
Ru Kaur organises against state violence, including policing and border violence. She occasionally writes on topics including migration, race and gender.
ABOUT SHEIDA SOLEIMANI
Sheida Soleimani is an Iranian-American artist, educator, and activist. Soleimani makes work that combines photography with sculpture, collage, and film, to highlight her critical perspectives on historical and contemporary socio-political occurrences. She is interested in the intersections of art and activism and how social media has shaped the landscape in current political affairs and uprisings.
ABOUT LOLA OLUFEMI
Lola Olufemi is a black feminist writer and Stuart Hall foundation researcher from London based in the Centre for Research and Education in Art and Media at the University of Westminster. Her work focuses on the uses of the political imagination and its relationship to cultural production, political demands and futurity. She is author of Feminism Interrupted: Disrupting Power (Pluto Press, 2020), Experiments in Imagining Otherwise (Hajar Press, 2021) and a member of ‘bare minimum’, an interdisciplinary anti-work arts collective.
ABOUT RAFEEF ZIADAH
Rafeef Ziadah is a Palestinian spoken word artist and human rights activist based in London, UK. Her performance of poems like ‘We Teach Life, Sir’ and ‘Shades of Anger’ went viral within days of its release. Her live readings offer a moving blend of poetry and music. Since releasing her first album, Rafeef has headlined prestigious performance venues across several countries with powerful readings on war, exile, gender and racism.
ACCESS
- Wheelchair Access and Disabled Toilets are available at this site.
- This event is seated.
- Please contact mail@southlondongallery.org with access requirements.
- We offer free tickets for carers, please email mail@southlondongallery.org to reserve your free carers ticket.
Public Programme Funder: The Ampersand Foundation
