E X H I B I T I O N


MAYA GURUNG-RUSSELL CAMPBELL

FOLKLORE IMAGINARY

24.09 - 17.12

LAUNCH EVENT 23.09 | 6-8 PM
(FREE)
87 Princes Avenue, Hull HU5 3QP

Folklore Imaginary


Drawing inspiration from the longstanding traditions of mask-making and masquerade in the Caribbean and Nepal, Brixton-based artist Maya Gurung-Russell Campbell creates evocative landscapes that explore her dual heritage. Incorporating sound, moving image, oral history, poetry and analogue photography, her practice centres matrilineal mythologies and lived experience, whilst interrogating universal themes.

Folklore Imaginary is a part-personal, part-cultural mythology, woven using oral histories and intergenerational memories of migration. It explores the fluidity of the artist’s transcultural identity. The liberation from having “one self” is toyed with through wearable avatars that utilise the traditional techniques of ritual mask-making in Nepal. Produced collaboratively with sound artist Cil, sitarist Tommy Khosla and multi-instrumentalist Buster Woodruff-Bryant, the audio-visual pieces Effigy for a Black Soldier and Protector of the Children sonically respond to both Eastern and Western folk tradition.



Effigy for a Black Soldier uses a reworking of the folk song Wayfaring Stranger as a storytelling device to explore memories of the artist’s estranged father, who served in the British Army and had a strong Christian faith. This meditates on the complexities that come with being a black man in service of the British Army, suggesting themes of migration, longing for home and the lingering phantom of the British Empire on the diaspora. Protector of the Children alludes to the Nepali folklore figure of the Lahkey, who is said to be a man-eating demon who protects children and townspeople, dwelling deep in the forests of Nepal. The work draws from the artist’s early encounter with the Lahkey mask when placed into her grandmother’s care at the age of four. Blending transcriptions of court documents recording the battle for custody between the artist’s grandmother and father, family photographs and a video-performance filmed during the artist’s residency at Space A in Kathmandu, Nepal, this is a deeply personal reflection on intergenerational memory.



Folklore Imaginary is the artist’s first UK solo exhibition. The show and the accompanying publication are supported by UAL’s Mead Fellowship and 87 Gallery.

 
 

Maya Gurung-Russell Campbell was selected for New Contemporaries in 2021.

Folklore Imaginary coincides with New Contemporaries 2022, which is being hosted in Hull at the Ferens Art Gallery and Humber Street Gallery from 23 September to 27 November 2022.

 

New Contemporaries is the UK’s leading organisation supporting emerging and early career artists from established and alternative art programmes. Since 1949, we have provided development opportunities for artists, helping them to successfully transition from education into more established pathways. Receptive to diverse practices from a diverse demographic, participants for our annual, open exhibition are selected by a panel comprising influential artists and art world figures, often including artists who have previously been a part of New Contemporaries.

 Remaining responsive to the radical movements of contemporary art, New Contemporaries also offers artists mentoring, residencies, bursaries, fellowships, commissioning and programming opportunities with our extensive network of partners. In addition to receiving NPO funding from Arts Council England over the period 2018-2022, Bloomberg Philanthropies has supported the New Contemporaries touring exhibition since 2000.

 For more information visit newcontemporaries.org.uk or follow on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter @NewContemps.

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VISITING SAFELY 

  • Please book a FREE ticket in advance

  • Hand sanitiser will be provided and regular use is encouraged

  • If you are not feeling well, have been advised to isolate, or fall into a vulnerable or at risk group, please help keep yourself and others safe by staying home

  • For more information about our Covid-19 guidelines, please email us.

WHAT TO EXPECT 

  • Automatic door

  • A lift ( available for access use only ).

  • Hand sanitiser dispensers provided in the galler

  • Disabled Toilet facilities

  • Staff are unable to take personal belongings such as bags or coats

Have a question or want to discuss access needs? Contact us.