The Courageous Untold Stories of African Environmental Heroes & Sovereignty Guardians.

My globe responds to the Mother Africa theme and utilises key symbolism and references that highlight and reimagine much of the inspirational parts of global history, where the untold stories of African environmental heroes and sovereignty guardians are centred. Inspired by the eclectic aesthetics, textures and history of the continent, I’ve incorporated my ‘Naturtraits’ style, which distinctly illustrates the connection between humans and nature through collaged silhouettes. 

Each section brings to life reimagined parts of our pre-colonial, traditional and colonial history as well as our present day reality and future potential. It aims to honour those who bravely fought for justice and our rights by reimagining them depicted in the dignity and peace in death that they didn't always receive while alive, and celebrate those who are paving the way for a brighter future. Despite representing 5-6% of the global population, indigenous people protect 80% of the world’s biodiversity. 

By focusing on the significant environmental legacy across the continent, it brings to light many of the courageous stories of those who have dedicated their lives to protecting the biodiversity of our richly diverse lands and as well as our rights to a healthier, greener life – preserving it for future generations to come. Likewise, this same approach honours the untold stories of our sovereignty guardians, who showed bravery in times of great vulnerability, as well as the significance of our global pre-colonial influence – a reminder of our potential and worth outside of Western context. 

Untold stories features the next generation of environmentalists, represented by Vanessa Nakate to brave ancestors like Ken Saro-Wiwa, president of the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People who was executed in response to their activism against oil extraction in Ogoniland. 

It also features stories of great rulers, from the diasbled Queen Amanirenas of Kush and her legendary golden arrows and influence of Mansa Musa to traditional legacies, such as Àdìǹkrá symbols and Griots who keep traditions alive to this day.

Featured by the BBC, Emma Blake Morsi is the Founding Editor-in-Chief of Nocturnal, an interactive magazine using the Arts to creatively address social and cultural issues. The biannual publication is a collection of digital stories as an authentic voice for young Creatives to showcase their obsessions and creatively express themselves through the Arts. She has been awarded Rife Magazine’s 2015 24 Influential Bristolians Under 24 title as well as nominated for Babbasa’s EMPOWERED 2016 Award for her Nocturnal work. For the second year in the row she covered No Boundaries 2015 as Watershed’s Young Reporter. She was part of the Creative Talent Lab in Bristol and has since written for Watershed in a freelance capacity. Emma had gone on to take part in the shortlisting of the Playable City 2014 Award as well as a speaker for the Making the City Playable 2014 conference.

www.emmablakemorsi.co.uk

The inspiration for my globe was the theme The Reality of Being Enslaved. I started by looking at, and thinking of, all the enslaved peoples of the world – currently, from antiquity and throughout history – and trying to imagine the most important preoccupation that they would have: namely, and by any means necessary, to flee from that state and take flight towards the ideals to which all humans aspire.

Godfried Donkor is a Ghanaian artist, living and working in London, who has exhibited in Cuba, Mexico, the US, Europe and Africa. He is known primarily for his work in collage, and has been described as similar to Keith Piper and Isaac Julien in his output. He is a multidisciplinary artist interested in the socio-historical relationships of Africa, Europe and the Caribbean. Donkor also has enlarged his practice to painting studying the relationship between slave trade and boxing in his exhibition with Gallery 1957 in 2021, London, UK. Godfried’s work for Denmark Hill station marks the artist’s first permanent public commission. He worked with a wide range of local partners – including the Camberwell Ident

http://donkor.net/

Bristol-based, visual artist Oshii combines bold colours with layered compositions to a multi-disciplinary practice to produce fine art which challenges social narratives, explores social and political issues and evokes dialogue. He has had work featured in Tate Liverpool and The Venice Biennale and worked with brands such as Jack Daniel’s.

www.oshii.uk

Millions of years ago a comet collided with a land now called Haiti, scattering tons of Iridium that now sells at $6,000 per troy ounce (19/6/22). This now makes the people of the island the poorest rich people on the planet. 

Five hundred years ago a white bolt slammed into the African continent scattering the people in every direction......now on the very day of Abolition 200, in 2006, words of the Ancestors are received through their Messenger, as dyes and paint explode onto cheap calico to open minds and to burn into all the half truth and lies as the words of the Ancestors cause the the white bolt to implode......these are the words of the Ancestors.

With 50 plus years as a self taught professional artist Bandele has been able to make impressive work in quite a few practices in the arts. Notable creative endeavours have been the 21ft batik mural for Bermuda I.U., his first solo show at Trinidad Hilton that bought together the islands top artist and clothing designers. Immigrating to the UK in 1988 he opened his batik painting exhibition at the Commonwealth Institute in London, while that was happening another collection of work was being prepared for a commissioned uk tour for Amnesty International addressing the apartheid situation in South Africa, this exhibition opened at the prestigious Kings College Chapel Cambridge. Over the years he has been involved in numerous creative ventures in Bristol and can boast that he has been involved with every major institution in the city over the years. Presently he is completing a body of over 100 pieces of work including textile, oil paintings, photography, a 10ft mahogany sculpture completed during his lockdown in Trinidad, installations and film for a world tour.

Many ghosts from the past occupy our public spaces. Their names adorn buildings, streets, sculptures and plaques. These legacies of the Transatlantic Trade in Enslaved Africans haunt our towns and cities, affecting many people who walk past them everyday. Legacy seeks to bring to light the forgotten or little known echoes of the past. 

Delving into history and archives, this globe seeks to highlight generations who have become lost to time and history. African cultures, indigenous cultures, enslaved people, abolitionists, suffragettes, writers and more who fought for the right to be seen and heard. The Dymaxion Fuller map, invented by Buckminster Fuller, represents a world that has less continent distortion. Other map projections like the Mercator and the Gall–Peters projection creates a distorted view of the world. The distortions on this globe are the people found at the top and bottom of the globe, highlighting how distorted our world can become. 

The removal of the north-up /south-down presentation, created by European empires, removes particular narratives that can affect how people view the world through unconscious cultural bias. To improve how we view the world, we must be attentive about how we map reality. We must look with fresh eyes, be cognisant of unconscious bias, and observe our ways of seeing.

Adam Grose specialises in drawing, painting and printmaking. He achieved a BA (Hons) Fine Art in Southampton and qualified to teach in 1997, teaching A Level, OLASS and SEND. He deepened his practice through studying for an MA in Fine Art Contemporary Practice at Falmouth University, which lead to residencies at the Cyprus College of Art run by Stass Paraskos (2013) and at the Malaca Instituto in Malaga (2014). These opportunities afforded time to research and explore the effect of cultural influences upon a host nation, investigating the dichotomy of a country via the host and the invasive culture, including the influence and ramifications of these forms of colonialism. Since 2011 Grose has focussed upon the human condition and lost generations, layering to obscure, destroy, hide, cover, manipulate, strip and wash away images and materials, using these forms of making to symbolise the passage of time and the way history affects memory and knowledge in contemporary society. He forms images that appear to be in transition from one state to another, like phantoms or echoes of the past haunting the present.

https://adamgrose.co.uk/

For Jay, art is a primal practice that connects us to Ancestral Strength, Sacred Healing and the Divine Cosmos. Growing up in East London, Jay was surrounded by a multicultural environment, and a close proximity to Epping Forest. From her time spent in Forests and taking trips to the beaches of her Ancestral home Antigua, Jay possesses a long-lasting love for divine nature. This theme is present throughout her artwork, where she makes romantic references to water and flora. An Obeahwoman and Spiritworker, Afro-Caribbean Cosmologies lie at the forefront of Jay Percy’s psyche and art. Themes include African Diaporic loss of Indigenous Spirituality in addition to reminders of the strength we can all find by reconnecting with the Animist practices respective to Ancestral homelands, prior to Colonisation. Jay works with acrylics and hand sews cowries and crystals directly onto canvas. She combines her love of highly saturated colours and royal golds with African Orisha worship, psychedelic print, and fundamental belief in the right to explore one’s own consciousness.

felixflxbraun.bigcartel.com

My practice has always focused on the positive aspects of Black history. My design focuses on our healing from the past, on unity, and on pride in ourselves and our community. My intention is to convey hope and encourage a sense of self-actualisation, while still honouring our cultural heritage and history.

My initial feeling in responding to the theme Expanding Soul, was to create something celebratory, something vibrant and something that embodies soul in its purest forms. I wanted to explore music, community, food, love; elements that are not just connected to, but often rooted in African and Caribbean culture. 

There is so much beauty to celebrate, so choosing a small selection of images to represent the joy and beauty of it was incredibly challenging, and there is so much more that could have been included. I wanted people to see images that resonate with them; whether it's the young girl sat between the knees or her auntie getting her hair braided, the women laughing and dancing, or the guys in the studio making music. 

For me it was important to include one anecdote that connects me to this work too, hence drawing in an old photo of my grandfather and cousin that's particularly close to my heart. I was inspired from the moment my pen touched the globe, and thoroughly enjoyed the creative process of making this work. I just hope this piece – as the theme suggests – opens and soothes the souls of those who see it.

Jasmine is a Bristol based illustrator, mural artist, and designer. Her practise embodies using traditional art methods (illustration) that tells stories of people and places. Amongst her recent work are murals for Royal Shakespeare Company and Pervasive Media Studio. She works regularly as a live sketch artist and visual journalist, and represents corporate organisations live sketching conferences, and designing Infographics for reports and books. She is an experienced political cartoonist for magazines, conveying a political, cultural or social stance in a way that is smart, sensitive and engaging. She is also a regular workshop facilitator and works with both children and adults, and is currently a board member for creative enterprise Rising Arts Agency.

https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/JazzShaniceArt

For this piece, I wanted to show the world in layers, and in doing so show the history of the routes of the Transatlantic Trade in Enslaved Africans, and where our people were taken from and displaced to. I hope we are able to begin to understand the size of this operation and the impact it had and still has on the history of our earth.

3Dom is one of Bristol’s new generation of street artists, who regularly paints amazing pieces in a liberal city that has a history of supporting artists. 3Dom is an appropriate name – He regularly combines disparate images in the same characters, ranging from lemons to weight’s bars, treehouses and cages. 3Dom’s vivid imagination, combined with his sense of humour, makes each one of his characters original, unmistakable and a pleasure to find on the street.