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Bald Black Girl(s) at Free Word

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Time 20:00
Date 10/04/19
Price £10

An evening of poetry, film and discussion centering around the narratives of black women who chose to shave their heads.

Join Free Word for the premiere of Reign – an ethereal, afrofuturistic inspired short poetry film that re-imagines a world where only bald black women exist.

Part of the Bald Black Girl(s) project, the evening will also feature readings from poets Anita Barton-Williams and Victoria Adukwei Bulley, using the film as a catalyst to challenge notions and expectations of gender. It will end with a discussion chaired by producer and curator Aliyah Hasinah, with an exciting line-up of speakers including Ruth Sutoyé, gal-dem editor-in-chief Liv Little, founder of the award-winning Wig Witch Gina Atinuke Knight and Sarah Atayero.

Bald Black Girl(s) is a multi-disciplinary project created by poet, producer and visual artist Ruth Sutoyé which centres the narratives of black women who choose to shave their heads, and explores perceptions of masculinity, femininity and androgyny alongside sexuality, gender identity and barbershop dynamics.

Ruth Sutoyé
Ruth Sutoyé is a poet, creative producer and visual artist. She is a Roundhouse Resident Artist, Barbican Young Poet alumna and currently one of London's Boat Poets-in-Residence, supported by Arts Council England & Thames Festival Trust. Her work has featured in several publications and platforms including Peepal Tree Press, Kabaka Magazine, True Africa, Bad Betty Press and The Cob Gallery. Ruth employs an archival approach to her work and has performed across the UK and abroad, gracing stages such as St Paul's Cathedral and Lagos International Poetry Festival. 'Bald Black Girl(s)' is her debut exhibition supported by Arts Council England, Free Word & Roundhouse.

Anita Barton-Williams
Anita Barton-Williams is a poet, translator and producer. She is the mother and father of Heaux Noire: a creative platform and organisation amplifying the work of Black and Brown womxn artists. She is a former Roundhouse Resident Artist, Barbican Young Poet alumna, and member of Octavia poetry collective. She lives between London and Brussels.

Victoria Adukwei Bulley
Victoria Adukwei Bulley is a poet, writer and filmmaker. A former Barbican Young Poet, her work has appeared in The Poetry Review in addition to featuring on BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour. She won a Society of Authors Eric Gregory Award is 2018, and has held residencies internationally in the US, Brazil and the V&A Museum in London. Victoria is director of MOTHERTONGUES, an inter-generational poetry, film and translation project supported by Arts Council England and Autograph. Her debut pamphlet is Girl B.

Aliyah Hasinah
Aliyah Hasinah is an arts producer, curator and poet. She is the Midlands producer for Apples and Snakes; with her work across theatre, poetry and curation being rooted in a decolonial praxis. Aliyah amplifies black and brown artists and seeks to disrupt the status quo of contemporary art. Recent curatorial work and commissions include TEDxBrum at Birmingham Hippodrome, Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, TEDxSkoll at the Sheldonian Theatre and Eastside Projects.

Liv Little
Liv Little is a curator, audio producer and the founder of gal-dem. She has also worked as a digital exec in commissioning at the BBC and as a contributing editor for ELLE UK. Liv is obsessed with telling people’s stories and this threads throughout all of the work that she does whether in audio, video, art or discussion.

Sarah Atayero
Sarah Atayero is a British Nigerian aspiring clinical psychologist. She currently works as a therapist on a mental health research project with children at Great Ormond Street Hospital. Her key interests are adolescent mental health and BAME mental health - she has campaigned, written, and ranted on radio endlessly about BAME mental health. Features include pieces in gal-dem and the recent anthology ‘The Colour of Madness’.

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