Celebrating Black History Month 2023 video transcript

So this is our first exhibition so our inaugural one, and we titled it Mavambo, which means the beginning in Shona, one of the official languages of Zimbabwe where I'm from. And in a lot of ways, it's the beginning of our journey. But as well as the beginning of giving platform to the exploration of narratives that African artists present, with this body of work specifically, we approached, nine artists, I believe, to present to us works with narratives that they wanted to explore. Our curatorial angle was really to create a diversity of artwork. We wanted it to be showing in all different mediums because contemporary African art is diverse, and there's a lot going on.

Tonight is the private view of Mavambo which is an exhibition bringing together artists from across the continent of Africa and the diaspora. So tonight we're celebrating a collection of work, that's actually small compared to all the artwork that's out there. But one of our graduates who graduated from the Business School has a business called Izwi and it's an art house, and she has co-created the exhibition and she's worked with one of our graduates, Alisha May Gascoyne who has coordinated the exhibition. So we want students to platform and profile this work. So she works with a range of artists and she's brought that work here tonight and we’re celebrating it. It's delight to welcome everyone here who has taken the time to attend Mavambo. This is the second major exhibition held at Markeaton Street Gallery at the University of Derby. My name is Dr Gemma Marmalade if you didn't know that already. And I'm proud to have been the originator of this publicly accessible gallery programme at sites across the University, commencing only earlier this year. Its intention is not only to provide a platform for the incredible work that happens within the university, but to speak to our communities too, helping support the University's deeply held social and civic values in service to its region and its people.

We need to keep telling our stories, not just from a Black History perspective, but we all have stories within us which need to be heard. And so whether you're Black, you're white, you're Asian, you're Chinese, you're Muslim or Jewish is so important to keep up those stories so that we can actually continue to build a sense of community, because the community is what makes us stronger. And within community there is unity.

Celebrating Black History Month 2023 video

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