AFRO DADA

Afro Dada is an evolving strand of my practice exploring the intersections of Black British identity and the British Empire through new experimental methods and materials. This page brings together the manifesto, conceptual grounding, and context of its development—much of which unfolded publicly between April and June 2025 at Firstsite.

Afro Dada Manifesto

Afro Dada fuses Afrocentric culture with the whimsical and nonsensical spirit of Dadaism to explore new forms of expression in my practice and propose alternative visual perspectives. Drawing from the framework of Afropessimism, Afro Dada addresses themes of rupture, erasure, fragmentation, displacement, and the complex interconnectedness of Black British, Caribbean, and West African identities—identities profoundly shaped by the historical impacts of the British Empire and the legacies of colonialism. This experimental methodology employs mark-making, sculpture, and collage, which facilitate this interrogation of identities that remain subject to speculation and inquiry in my work. Afro Dada does not aim to resolve. Instead, it invites disorientation as a kind of clarity.

April, 2025

As part of my solo exhibition, It Should Not Be Forgotten at Firstsite (29 March – 6 July 2025), one of the galleries was transformed into a working artist’s studio. This offered visitors a unique opportunity to step inside an artist’s evolving creative process. On most Fridays throughout the exhibition, I worked in the studio, developing the Afro Dada series live. The work-in-progress remained on view between sessions and was regularly updated on this page below