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Last month, the Institute for Black Atlantic Research (IBAR) hosted a showcase event introducing the research currently being undertaken at the institute. Speakers included IBAR staff and research students with presentations encompassing interdisciplinary projects developed both in the UK and internationally in the field of history, literature and visual arts.
A number of events are being planned by IBAR in the coming months, including the visit of Nigerian-British author Noo Saro-Wiwa (UCLan, 16^th March) for a reading of her acclaimed book Looking for Transwonderland (2013), and to discuss the legacy of her father Ken Saro-Wiwa (1941-1995), writer, human rights activist and environmentalist.

The exhibition Conflict and Collisions: New Contemporary Sculpture recently concluded at The Hepworth Wakefield. It notably featured German artist Alexandra Bircken’s largest solo presentation in the UK to date. View the photo gallery here.
Bircken is also one of the artists of Basket Case II, the visual arts, design and crafts weaving project that first launched at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe, Harare, last October (visit the new photo gallery). Basket Case II is now touring to the National Gallery of Zimbabwe, Bulawayo until 21^st March.
Design elements of the project will be presented at Ambiente Fair, Frankfurt, featuring matali crasset, Sebastian Herkner, Binga Craft Centre and Bulawayo Home Industries from 13^th to 17^th February.

In preparation 

As part of FORMAT International Photography Festival 2015, Residual: Traces of the Black Body, with Larry Achiampong, Cristiano Berti, George Hallett, Zanele Muholi, and Ingrid Pollard.

Responding to this year’s theme, ‘Evidence’, Residual looks at the process of imaging and imagining the black presence in relation to memory and erasure through photography, photomontage, video, installation and sound.

Presented at New Art Exchange, Nottingham, from 12^th March to 17^th April, in collaboration with Making Histories Visible, the exhibition will be accompanied by an artists and curator’s talk on 19^th March, an artist workshop with Ingrid Pollard, and will be part of FORMAT Conference at QUAD, Derby.

Calls and opportunities

FORMAT International Photography Festival has launched a call for papers for its interdisciplinary one-day conference, organised in partnership with the Digital and Material Arts Research Centre, University of Derby. The festival conference will be held at QUAD, on 10^th April 2015 and will take the main festival theme of ‘Evidence’ as a starting point to examine work in film, photography and moving image. Deadline 28^th February.

POPCAP’15 is calling for entries for its International Prize for Contemporary African Photography. The prize consists of global exposure at major international photography exhibitions such as POPCAP exhibitions at Image Afrique in Basel, Switzerland, in cooperation with LagosPhoto Festival and at the FIFCV Festival Internacional de Fotografia de Cabo Verde. Deadline: 1^st March.

Finally, the Bamako Encounters are resuming this year with Bisi Silva as Artistic Director of the 10^th edition. Entitled TELLING TIME, the biennial will take place from 31^st October to 31^st December.
Photographers and video artists can submit their application here.
Deadline: 31^st March.