the cut, the tear & the remix: contemporary collage and Black futures

Curated by stylo starr

Opening April 22, 2021

The exhibition presented by McMaster Museum of Art, in partnership with Nia Centre for the Arts, mixes traditional and contemporary forms of collage to explore Afrofuturism and the African diaspora

Artists: Emkay Adjei-Manu, Anna Binta Diallo, FEZA, Kofi Oduro, Sonya Mwambu, SPATIAL-ESK, Ghislan Timm, and Yung Yemi

The McMaster Museum of Art in partnership with the Nia Centre for the Arts is pleased to present a virtual group exhibition the cut, the tear, & the remix: contemporary collage and Black futures, curated by Hamilton visual artist and art educator stylo starr.

The virtual exhibition brings together the work of eight contemporary artists who are all deeply engaged in unearthing a future rooted in their individual ancestral connections to the African and Caribbean diaspora through varied interpretations of collage. Artists present their work using “cut & paste” techniques — both analogue and digital — that go beyond traditional tactile paper and photomontage iterations of the medium to include new media such as video, digital art and design.

According to stylo starr, “The artists in the remix give gravity and presence to collage in ways that reach far beyond the medium’s basic materiality, and provide a kaleidoscopic view into the Afrofuture using ‘cut and paste’ as direction, action and tool.”

Visitors will enter the remix through a cosmic and ethereal environment custom designed by artist SPATIAL-ESK. The interactive space invites guests to navigate between dedicated artist rooms that create intimate encounters with the art. The unique online presentation of the remix, as a result of current global circumstances, is in and of itself an envisioning of the future of Black spatial and temporal experiences. Whether it’s through engaging with Anna Binta Diallo’s mythical silhouette cut-outs, Yung Yemi’s Afro-futuristic portraits, or Kofi Oduro’s coded audio track, the show acts as an invitation for others to contemplate and participate in this new imagining.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a printed feature in PITCH magazine, an independently run Black arts publication based in Hamilton. In addition, a series of virtual events will be presented in leading up to opening, including a live coding performance by multidisciplinary artist and creative coder Kofi Oduro (Illestpreacha) on April 7th.

The project is an output of starr’s curatorial research and mentorship through the unique Curator-in-Residence program hosted by the McMaster Museum of Art and Nia Centre for the Arts.

The exhibition will be available on April 22, 2021 via the McMaster Museum of Art website. More details on accessing the exhibition will be available soon.