t'ART Exhib: Power in Pride

t'ART is a collective that creates space for words, pictures, performance, music and the possibilities of creativity. thanks for visiting.

t'ART Exhibition

Theme: Power in Pride

Where: The Castle Cinema, London

Dates: 9th-31st October

Private View: 9th October, 6:30pm-11pm

This October, to celebrate Black History Month, we have invited queer POC artists to exhibit their work at The Castle Cinema.

Lead curator Coco Jackson says, "The official theme for this year’s Black History Month in the UK is ‘Standing Firm in Power and Pride’. This theme honours the resilience and unwavering commitment to progression within the black community. It celebrates strength, cultural identity and the impact the black community has had in multiple fields including politics, civil rights movements, business, education and the arts. And this theme is especially important to me as a Black, Queer, Femme who was socialised a woman, as it allows me to stand strong in multiple intersections of my identity without shame."

From photography to paintings, collage to ceramics, our exhibiting artists explore the de-stigmatisation of queer sex and queer bodies, mental health within the Black diaspora, restrictive immigration policies in the UK, queer-coding within pattern, memory and fantasy, self-expression without restriction and the colour blue as a metaphor for remembering and forgetting queerness.

We can't wait to bring them together on the walls of The Castle Cinema this October.

Meet the Artists

An Nguyen @phattie321

An Nguyen is an image-maker who mobilises their personal narratives and intersectional identities to explore matters of subjectivity and autonomy through photography. With a keen interest in experimentation across genres, Nguyen’s methodologies demonstrates a commitment to concepts of cultural meaning and affect through the artist’s accounts of material, visual, and interpersonal memories.

Chiyana Ankhrah @eshephoto

Chiyana Ankhrah is a conceptual and documentary photographer who uses her lens to tell stories. Her previous works focused on challenging Eurocentric beauty standards, particularly in her editorial work, by placing Black women at the forefront of her work when they have historically been left out of the fashion and beauty industries. More recently, Chiyana's work has shifted to focus on storytelling via documentary photography in order to capture the voices of the Black diaspora, which can be seen in her work about mental health as well as the Windrush Generation. Her aim is to illuminate the lived experiences of people within the Black British/Caribbean community.

Ela Ertan @elaertanart

Ela Ertan (b. 1999) is a queer multidisciplinary artist from London, UK, of Iranian and Turkish Cypriot heritage. Working across painting and documentary photography, her reflective practice explores themes of memory, fantasy, place, and the self. She is fascinated by rich colour, emotional atmosphere, and the intersectionality of identity — including race, class, gender, and queerness.

She studied BA Painting at Edinburgh College of Art (2021) and MA Painting at the Royal College of Art (2024), and is currently completing an MA in Photojournalism and Documentary Photography at London College of Communication, UAL.

Kevin Bickham @kevinbickham

Kevin Bickham is a product designer working in ceramics and objects for the home and garden. His practice draws inspiration from his Californian upbringing and daily life around Brockwell Park.

Alongside cups, bowls, coffee ware, and vessels, Kevin also creates objects inspired by toys for non-procreative sex and pleasure, reflecting an ongoing conversation about the de-stigmatisation of queer sex and queer bodies.

Krishna Shanthi @_skrishnanana

Krishna Shanthi (b. 1988 Pooneryn, Sri Lanka) is a queer Tamil-Canadian multidisciplinary artist based in London.

In his practice, he uses image-making, research and criticism to visually communicate ideas about everyday human experiences. He creates representations of hybrid identities, mixing concepts and materials coming from Hindu mythologies, comic-book superheroes and Disney princesses. He is currently obsessed with the colour blue and the cultural connotations of remembering and forgetting queerness as a learned understanding of identity and culture.

He has a Master of Design degree from York University in Toronto, Canada and a Master of Arts degree in Criticism and Curation from Central Saint Martins, University of Arts London.

Sapphire Oladejo @knit_pick_

I frequently work with wool and in fibre arts, I try to use second hand or recycled materials as a lot of my pieces are motivated behind the idea of preserving stories and sharing traditions. A theme that frequently recurs in many of my pieces is the subheading of culture and heritage, as I am very interested in acknowledging the importance of self expression.

The pieces that I have created for this exhibition began with the concept of “expressing yourself without restriction”. The mid point between culture and conflict is creation - in a lot of black households, choosing to express sexuality or sexual nature is considered taboo or looked down upon and the fight back to this has been reflected in large but significant ways, such as in hairstyles or clothing.

Shaven Raven Designs @the_shaven_raven

Shaven Raven Designs is the moniker of East London-based illustrator and graphic designer, Ufuoma Urie. Her range of sustainably made gift wrap, greeting cards, stickers and prints feature nods to her West African identity, slang and a celebration of queer identities through signs and symbols. At Shaven Raven Designs, queer-coded patterns reign supreme!