Afro Dada collages exploring fragmented histories, Caribbean lineage, and Britain’s colonial amnesia, created live at Firstsite in 2025. WORKS - COLLAGES - Osun-Osogbo, Windrush and Empire, 2025 Osun-Osogbo, Windrush and Empire, 2025 Ten hand-cut collages Indian ink and Xerox photocopies on watercolour paper 21 x 21 cm, each These works form part of the first iteration of Afro Dada and were created publicly during the solo exhibition It Should Not Be Forgotten, Firstsite, 2025, in a gallery space transformed into a working artist’s studio. Commissioned by Firstsite. Funded by Arts Council England, Firstsite, and Trevor Fenwick. With support from the Royal College of Art. Exhibition history: 2025 - Chisenhale Art Place, London, UK 2025 - Firstsite, Colchester. UK <<< Requiem for Empire Aristocratic Woman, Monkey, Mask and Orka >>> Elsa James © 2026. All Rights Reserved.

WORKS - SELECTED SCREENPRINTS The Rebels of Breadnut Island Pen, 2025 The Black Interior, 2022 The Blackness Prints, 2021 <<< NEONS MOVING IMAGES >>> Elsa James © 2026. All Rights Reserved.

Large-scale Neon text installation referencing David Lammy’s Windrush speech, exploring African diaspora solidarity and the phrase “I Am Here Because You Were There.” WORKS - NEONS - Requiem for Empire, 2022 Requiem for Empire, 2022 Neon and black paint Letter height: 30 cm, install dimensions: 967.2 cm Edition of 2 I AM HERE BECAUSE YOU WERE THERE—a shared declaration across the African diaspora. The phrase originates from an impassioned speech by David Lammy in 2018, in response to the Windrush scandal, in which British subjects—many of whom had arrived from Caribbean nations decades earlier—were wrongly detained, denied their rights, or threatened with deportation. Commissioned by Focal Point Gallery as part of the solo exhibition titled Othered in a region that has been historically Othered , 2022. Funded by Arts Council England, Focal Point Gallery and Southend-on-Sea City Council. With support from Art Exchange at the University of Essex. Credits: Fabricator: Neon Circus; Photo 1. Anna Lukula, Photo 2. Lucy Dawkins. Courtesy Gagosian Exhibition history: 2025 - Firstsite, Colchester, UK 2023 - Bernie Grant Art Centre, London, UK 2023 - Gagosian, London, UK 2022 - Focal Point Gallery, Southend, UK <<< Declaration II: And Still, We Rise Osun-Osogbo, Windrush and Empire >>> Elsa James © 2026. All Rights Reserved.

WORKS - SELECTED CollageS I'm off and I'm taking the girls with me, 2026 These feet need a rest now, 2026 Oh the horror: I, 2026 Osun-Osogbo, Windrush and Empire, 2025 Aristocratic Woman, Monkey, Mask and Orka, 2025 Black Radicals, 2025 NEONS >>> Elsa James © 2026. All Rights Reserved.

Film by Elsa James connecting the persecution of Essex women accused of witchcraft during the 17th-century English Civil War with contemporary experiences of displacement and exclusion for African asylum seekers and refugees living in Southend-on-Sea, Essex. WORKS - MOVING IMAGES - Contemporary Echoes of the Subjugation of the Women of Essex, 2022 Contemporary Echoes of the Subjugation of the Women of Essex Chapter one of the three-part film, Othered in a region that has been historically Othered, 2022 4K digital video, stereo sound 11:36 minutes (2:24-minute excerpt below) Edition of 3 and 1 AP Filmed in Mistley, Essex. Chapter one opens in the woodlands surrounding Old Knobbley, an 800-year-old oak tree in Mistley, Essex. According to local folklore, the tree served as a sanctuary for women persecuted as witches during the 17th-century English Civil War. The chapter draws a line across temporal registers, juxtaposing these histories of persecution with the contemporary experiences of African asylum seekers and refugees living in Southend-on-Sea, Essex. Their testimonies are carried through the film’s sonic register, binding past and present through a shared grammar of displacement, vulnerability, and survival. Explore the accompanying audio here . Commissioned by Focal Point Gallery as part of the solo exhibition titled Othered in a region that has been historically Othered , 2022. Funded by Arts Council England, Focal Point Gallery and Southend-on-Sea City Council. With support from Art Exchange at the University of Essex. Chapter one credits: Conceived, written and produced by Elsa James from focus groups she held with anonymous members of CAST, a Southend-based African asylum seekers and refugees charity. Film performance: Elsa James; Filmed, directed and edited: Andy Delaney; Colourist: Adrian Seery; Camera Assistant: Graham Tobias; Movement director: Lea Orož; Titles: Rich With; Production Assistance: Sue Withers; Music composer: Paul Gladstone-Reid MBE; Essex Researcher: Holly Firmin; Essex Witch Trials Consultant: Syd Moore; Costume Designer: Symone Williams; Costume Designer’s Assistant: Allyson Williams MBE; Make-up: Jamilat Charles. All film stills: Andy Delaney. Screening history: 2023 - G.A.S. Foundation, Lagos, Nigeria 2022 - Focal Point Gallery, Southend, Essex, UK <<< Living in the Wake of the Lust for Sugar A Jab Jab Awakening Towards A New Essex >>> Elsa James © 2026. All Rights Reserved.

WORKS - SOUND - Redemptive Blue, 2022 Redemptive Blue, 2022 Audio 10:36 minutes Redemptive Blue is a contemplative sound work accompanying the moving-image work Contemporary Echoes of the Subjugation of the Women of Essex . Moving through emotional and historical registers, the piece weaves layered tonal shifts and subtle sonic textures, drawing on the musical traditions of Soul, Gospel, and Classical Opera. Redemptive Blue invites listeners into an immersive encounter shaped by lyrics drawn from the lived experiences of African asylum seekers and refugees living in Southend-on-Sea, Essex. Serving as both atmosphere and reflection, the piece creates space for compassion, remembrance, and the possibility of change. Listen on Soundcloud here Commissioned by Focal Point Gallery as part of the solo exhibition Othered in a region that has been historically Othered, 2022. Funded by Arts Council England, Focal Point Gallery and Southend-on-Sea City Council. Credits: Written and composed by Paul Gladstone-Reid MBE with Elsa James from focus groups she held with asylum seekers and refugees in Southend-on-Sea . Film stills: Andy Delaney <<< The Black Interior Audio Edit Jab Jab Essex >>> Elsa James © 2026. All Rights Reserved.

AVAILABLE EDITIONS Work No. 25: Living Here , 2022 Work No. 4: Hey, We're Over Here! 2021 We Stand With You , 2021 Work No. 7: Policy Note to Essex , 2021 Work No. 27: Hair Texture , 2022 Work No. 5: Untitled, 2021 Elsa James © 2026. All Rights Reserved.

Explore sound collaborations and immersive audio experiences of Elsa James WORKS - sound Osogbo, 2025 Beyond the Hold in C# Minor, 2025 The Black Interior Audio Edit, 2022 Redemptive Blue , 2022 Jab Jab Essex, 2022 What Would Essex Look Like? 2022 The Journey, 2022 <<< Digital art Projects >>> Elsa James © 2026. All Rights Reserved.

WORKS - SOUND - Osogbo, 2025 Osogbo, 2025 Audio 16:52 minutes, loop Osogbo accompanies the installation of The Rebels of Breadnut Island Pen . It emerges from a field recording made during a sacred ceremony at the Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove in Nigeria in 2023. Rooted in Yoruba spiritual traditions, the recording forms the foundation of an immersive sonic environment to reinforce the imagined lives of Phibbah and Molia. It makes room for what exceeds the fictional narratives within the visual artworks, foregrounding solidarity, love, ritual, and Black joy as ways of reimagining the women's lives beyond the violence documented in Thomas Thistlewood’s colonial diaries. Listen on Soundcloud here Commissioned by Firstsite as part of the solo exhibition It Should Not Be Forgotten , 2025. Funded by Arts Council England, Firstsite and Trevor Fenwick. With support from the Royal College of Art. Credits: Conceived by Elsa James; Designed and shaped by Trevor Mathison; Installation photos: Richard Ivey <<< The Blackness Series Beyond the Hold in C# Minor >>> Elsa James © 2026. All Rights Reserved.

Limited edition screenprints available for purchase, documenting anonymised racist microaggressions shared by four Black men reflecting on everyday experiences of growing up in or living in Essex, England. The works record lived encounters of racial bias and subtle violence, translating spoken testimony into visual form as a way of archiving, exposing, and critically reflecting on contemporary Black British life and its social realities. AVAILABLE EDITIONS Work No. 5: Untitled, 2021 Silkscreen print on Plike black 330gsm 68 x 68 cm (unframed) Edition 3 of 3 plus 1 AP Signed, dated, and numbered on the back Part of The Blackness Prints Credits: Typographics: Fraser Muggeridge; Screenprint: The Printing Press; Photographed by Anna Lukula ENQUIRE HERE Elsa James © 2026. All Rights Reserved.

Elsa James talks about her solo exhibition, 'Othered in a region that has been historically Othered', at Focal Point Gallery BIO CV PUBLICATIONS PRESS MEDIA About Menu Close Produced and edited by Paul Bates and Gabrielle Milanese "Othered in a region that has been historically Othered is breathtaking. This work will stay with me for a long time" — Beth Hughes, Curator, Arts Council Collection "I can't recommend it enough...it's just such an incredibly goosebump-inducing, bolshy, angry, fun, well-crafted, instinctive, singular and generous achievement in art...it's gut-punch work, and so meticulously realised. It's epic" — Tim Burrows, Guardian journalist and author of The Invention of Essex "Such thoughtful, timely work" — Ekow Eshun, Writer and curator "Stupendous show" — Louisa Buck, Art writer, The Art Newspaper Back to top Elsa James © 2026. All Rights Reserved.

WORKS - MOVING IMAGES - Forgotten Black Essex: Princess Dinubolu, 2018 Forgotten Black Essex: Princess Dinubolu, 2018 (Film two) HD digital video, sound 6:19 minutes (1.14-minute excerpt below) Edition of 3 and 1 AP Filmed in Southend-on-Sea, Essex Film two focuses on Princess Dinubolu, a woman who travelled from Senegal to Southend-on-Sea, Essex in 1908 and is recorded in the archive as a beauty pageant participant. Her presence appears through scattered references that reflect both visibility and constraint—offering a glimpse into her story while leaving much unknown. Credits: Forgotten Black Essex was conceived, written and produced by Elsa James as a pilot project funded through a research and development grant from Arts Council England with an additional small grant from Southend-on-Sea Borough Council. Partnership support from Metal, Take the Space and Autograph ABP, and collaborative support from S I Martin, researcher; Andy Delaney, moving image director; Amaal Said, still images; and Gareth Jones, sound recordist. Screening history: 2022 - Focal Point Gallery, UK 2019 - Firstsite, Colchester, UK 2018 - Autograph ABP, UK 2018 - Metal, Southend, UK <<< Forgotten Black Essex: Hester and Hester Woodley Goat Curry and Rap >>> Elsa James © 2026. All Rights Reserved.