GRACE NDIRITU'S
GRIEF: A LOVE LETTER
GRACE NDIRITU'S
GRIEF: A LOVE LETTER
Event curated by Zarina Rossheart, April 2023
Event curated by Zarina Rossheart, April 2023
Grief: A Love Letter is part of BUILDHOLLYWOOD's first major curatorial and artist commission All About Love, taking over large-format billboards across Birmingham, Brighton, Bristol, Glasgow and Manchester between April – September 2023. The project champions artists who are either born in those cities or live and work there.
Grief: A Love Letter is part of BUILDHOLLYWOOD's first major curatorial and artist commission All About Love, taking over large-format billboards across Birmingham, Brighton, Bristol, Glasgow and Manchester between April – September 2023. The project champions artists who are either born in those cities or live and work there.
Between 28 – 30 April the billboard takeover launched in Birmingham with renowned British-Kenyan artist and fellow Brummie Grace Ndiritu.
Between 28 – 30 April the billboard takeover launched in Birmingham with renowned British-Kenyan artist and fellow Brummie Grace Ndiritu.
Ndiritu’s commission, Grief: A Love Letter (2023) explores themes of death, motherhood, and the ambiguity of race/class/gender. Grace performed excerpts of this on Saturday 29 April, alongside other writers and artists responding to themes of Love and Grief: Alisha Samms, Leah Hickey, Samiir Saunders, Izzy McEvoy, Annabel Pettigrew, Fatima Diriye, Kaylan Largie, Tasneim Zyada, Nicola Small, Lara Beaseley, Brenda Hickin, Jo Mason – and BRMTWN members Jaz Morrison and Hassan Ul-Haq.
Ndiritu’s commission, Grief: A Love Letter (2023) explores themes of death, motherhood, and the ambiguity of race/class/gender. Grace performed excerpts of this on Saturday 29 April, alongside other writers and artists responding to themes of Love and Grief: Alisha Samms, Leah Hickey, Samiir Saunders, Izzy McEvoy, Annabel Pettigrew, Fatima Diriye, Kaylan Largie, Tasneim Zyada, Nicola Small, Lara Beaseley, Brenda Hickin, Jo Mason – and BRMTWN members Jaz Morrison and Hassan Ul-Haq.
For 'Grief: A Love Letter', We were honoured to have provided some support to Curator Zarina Rossheart, Brenda Hickin (logistics), and the BUILDHOLLYWOOD team in the run up to the event.
For 'Grief: A Love Letter', We were honoured to have provided some support to Curator Zarina Rossheart, Brenda Hickin (logistics), and the BUILDHOLLYWOOD team in the run up to the event.
Many attendees and participants had experienced grief at the time, and welcomed the opportunity to informally share their feelings and thoughts on the entwining nature of love and grief, as well as its inevitability as a factor that unifies us as humans.
Many attendees and participants had experienced grief at the time, and welcomed the opportunity to informally share their feelings and thoughts on the entwining nature of love and grief, as well as its inevitability as a factor that unifies us as humans.
‘Whether it is the ongoing worldwide presence of violence expressed by the persistence of the man-made war, hunger and starvation, the day-to-day reality of violence, the presence of life-threatening diseases that cause the unexpected deaths of friends, comrades, and loved ones, there is much that brings everyone to the brink of despair. Knowing love or the hope of knowing love is the anchor that keeps us from falling into the sea of despair.’
- bell hooks, All About Love (2000)
‘Whether it is the ongoing worldwide presence of violence expressed by the persistence of the man-made war, hunger and starvation, the day-to-day reality of violence, the presence of life-threatening diseases that cause the unexpected deaths of friends, comrades, and loved ones, there is much that brings everyone to the brink of despair. Knowing love or the hope of knowing love is the anchor that keeps us from falling into the sea of despair.’
- bell hooks, All About Love (2000)
Using hooks’ writing as a starting point, ‘All About Love’ aims to inspire audiences to create a better future together. This project, along with hooks’ writing, offers a proactive new ethic for a people and a society bereft with lovelessness.
Using hooks’ writing as a starting point, ‘All About Love’ aims to inspire audiences to create a better future together. This project, along with hooks’ writing, offers a proactive new ethic for a people and a society bereft with lovelessness.
SPECIAL THANKS: Grace Ndiritu, Zarina Rossheart, BUILDHOLLYWOOD, Brenda Hickin, Kevin Lake, Alisha Samms, Izzy McEvoy, Kaylan Largie, Leah Hickey, Samiir Saunders, Annabel Pettigrew, Fatima Diriye, Lara Beaseley, Tasneim Zyada, Jo Mason, Nicola Small, Hassan Ul-Haq, Jaz Morrison, and Digbeth Art Space.
SPECIAL THANKS: Grace Ndiritu, Zarina Rossheart, BUILDHOLLYWOOD, Brenda Hickin, Kevin Lake, Alisha Samms, Izzy McEvoy, Kaylan Largie, Leah Hickey, Samiir Saunders, Annabel Pettigrew, Fatima Diriye, Lara Beaseley, Tasneim Zyada, Jo Mason, Nicola Small, Hassan Ul-Haq, Jaz Morrison, and Digbeth Art Space.
Photos by Kevin Lake
