To matter: to be important or significant
Black Curator and Artist, Olu Taiwo curated the exhibition 'I Matter' formed of the work of 15 artists from Black, Asian and minority ethinic backgrounds and communities. Their work responded to the powerful declaration, "I Matter" and it's recent iterations.
Olu Taiwo took part in the Babylon Young Curators Programme in 2020/21; a year-long professional development opportunity for young people aged 18 – 25. As a Babylon Young Curator, Olu present an exhibition called ‘I Matter’ at Babylon Gallery in Ely, from 28 May – 13 June 2021.
“The ‘I Matter’ exhibition provides a platform to tell their stories of why they matter.
I am keen to expand our own perspectives on art, using it to shed light on the broader range of narratives and forms of making. Art is a powerful tool that can be utilised to portray the issues that plague people across all races, backgrounds, religions, orientations and genders.”
- Olu Taiwo
Following a successful open-call, Olu shortlisted 15 artists with work that best portrayed the theme, including;
The exhibition was a mixture of new and existing artworks in various mediums including sculpture, photography, painting, poetry and digital art, by artists at varying stages in the artistic career. All the works responded to the theme, interrogating the powerful declaration, ‘I Matter’, and its recent complex iterations. Olu's vision for the exhibition looked to showcase works that connect to the importance of diversity as it relates to local traditions, customs, crafts or stories and portrays the skills and creativity of artists and creative practitioners.
All 15 of the artists took part in a series of three artists' panels interviewed by Olu, discussing their artworks, training and the reasons behind the curation and selection, which took place in June.
Due to the large number of artist submissions, Olu also decided to host an online exhibition of a wider selection of work by the artists who applied. This online exhibition is featured on the Babylon ARTS’ website and ran alongside the I Matter exhibition from Friday 28th May until Friday 31st Decemeber 2021.
If you weren't able to visit in person, you can see our virtual tour of the exhibition here or click the images below.
A message from the Curator:
Audience engagement
Babylon Young Curator, Olu Taiwo, curated the inspiring exhibition 'I Matter', at the Babylon Gallery consisting of work created by artists from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds and communities. As part of our commitment to accessible audience engagement, we offered 2 opportunities for the public to become involved and get creative themselves, either through a family craft activity or by writing some poetry. The deadline for these activities has now expired, but you are welcome to download the bird craft activity for free below.
Babylon's Flock of Birds
The bird for this activity was inspired by the film, 'Birds or Borders' by Parham Ghalamdar which was part of the I Matter exhibition.
We are no longer accepting birds at Babylon Gallery as the exhibition has now passed, however you are welcome to download the template to be printed out, cut out and decorated as you wish, as a fun acitivity!
Download the PDF bird template here.
This project was in partnership with:
