Black History Month 2025

Walking in tandem with the river has always been a spiritually transformative experience where my connection to bodies of water and community intersects at the heart of and informs my making practice. Primarily, I am a Maker. My art of walking is not only integral to my practice but also an act of re/connecting and reclaiming space, for wellness and reconnecting to narratives of memory, re-memory and healing This liquid history flows as a continuum which synchronises the past, present and future connects all of us as a global conduit that carries our stories.’ Remiiya is a multi-interdisciplinary Artist where walking in tandem with bodies of water is deeply inherent to her creative making and socially engaged practice. Throughout her lived experiences, she has held a long deep fascination with the spiritual essence of the river, in all of its forms, processes and tributaries. She communes with and responds to this timeless resource from an immersive multi-sensorial perspective and witnesser to infrastructural change and development. This experiential, immersive, multi-layered adventure includes the river’s forever changing palette of scent, sound, colour and surface in correlation to memory, ritual, colonial and post-colonial narrative themes, industrial change, heritage and the natural environment.

A  multi-interdisciplinary Artist, Walker, Creative Learning Practitioner and Consultant, who channels her artistry through drawing, designing, writing and making. Her Creative Learning Practitioner portfolio of skills and experiences embodies research, facilitation and teaching. Throughout her creative leadership experiences, she has designed, led and implemented a diverse range of arts-based classes, workshops, including CPD and projects. Her client groups and audiences have included families, young people, older adults, including SEND, adults with learning difficulties and disabilities. She has worked collaboratively with a range of organisations, within the public and private sectors including museums, galleries, schools and colleges.

Cassia Clarke is an independent community archivist and artist educator whose work focuses on acquiring, critiquing, reconstructing, and sharing knowledge, with an emphasis on compassionate conservation and person-centred facilitation. Cassia prioritises learning as a form of freedom and enjoyment.

Cassia’s debut publication Preserving the Familial Archive offers practical, sustainable, and cost-effective strategies for preserving printed photographic archives in your home. Covering everything from fact-finding, handling, packaging, storage, making tough choices, and the emotional complexities of preservation. Clarke also shares personal anecdotes from her own preservation journey, making the process both relatable and insightful.

Preserving the Familial Archive by Cassia Clarke is now available for purchase.

Website: https://cassiaclarke.squarespace.com.

Jahnavi is an award-winning graphic designer and craft educator whose practice is focused on celebrating untold stories within Black British history. Through her adaptation of the culturally rich medium of quilting, she documents history through a critical lens, challenging distorted historical narratives and creating representation and empowerment for Black Brits.

As a craft educator, she has facilitated artistic workshops for a number of organisations including the Crafts Council, Tate Britain, the South London Gallery and the Fitzwilliam Museum. Her workshops engage participants with stories of joy and empowerment to celebrate, re-frame and document our collective and personal histories.