Summer Solstice: WANAWAL Live Archiving Event

About

Saturday 22nd June | 2024 | 2pm - 3.30pm
Nottingham Contemporary
FREE

The Space, Drop in - Free.

Nottingham Contemporary are pleased to host The West Asian and North African Women's Art Library (WANAWAL) as part of their day of Summer Solstice events.

Speaking to themes of self-determination and creative freedom within Hamid Zénati's exhibition, and practices of collecting and archiving explored in Claudia Martínez Garay's exhibition, archivist Êvar Hussayni will present ephemera from the WANAWAL and invite visitors to join a live archiving event where we will collectively create an archive box of Kazna Asker's performative fashion show, What Are We Fighting For? This new archived material will be added to the WANAWAL Library and presented within the exhibition don't worry i won't forget you at Forma, London.

This event is programmed in partnership with Forma, London on the occasion of the exhibition don't worry i won't forget you curated by Êvar Hussayni and Sarah Hamed.

The West Asian and North African Women's Art Library (WANAWAL) is an alternative archival practice and library existing in both digital and physical spaces. By questioning the dynamics of archiving, WANAWAL seeks to reshape narratives, away from the ongoing impacts of colonial practices on collective memory.

The WANAWAL collects, records and exhibits artwork, curatorial projects, publications and general ephemera. Actively seeking diverse materials—ranging from oral histories to personal archives, photographs, writings, and artwork—becomes pivotal to capturing the multifaceted nature of this archive. Sensitivity in archiving, curation and interpretation of these materials ensures an authentic representation that avoids prescriptive oversimplification.

Tackling existing Western-focused hierarchies of representation in libraries and archives involves a multi-faceted approach of collaboration, connecting with artists and allowing them to control the way their contributions are engaged with or displayed. Integral to the WANAWAL is a transparency of being in a constant state of learning and unlearning and so, in carefully growing the library and the practice that guides our approach, we have been able to reach a place of experimentation and adaptation to nurture ideas around collective memory as a liberation practice.