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A square graphic with a pale pink background. A dark pink pattern of marbled lines stretches down from the top of the frame.
A landscape image of a messy pile of small square publications lying on a table. The publications are pale grey and subtly speckled and feature holographic writing. The words ‘Unmasking’, ‘Remapping, ‘GU’, and ‘UoB’ go around the edges of the booklets, where the light catches the words they shine in rainbow shades.
A square graphic with a pale pink background. A dark pink pattern of marbled lines stretches down from the left of the frame.
a landscape image of a small paper booklet lying on a table covered with stickers and crafting materials such as feathers and pipe cleaners The pink page of the booklet reads ‘Unmasking || Remapping. 3 May – 7 June 2024.
A square graphic with a pale pink background. A dark pink pattern of marbled lines stretches down from the top of the frame.

Design by The Holodeck, commissioned by Grand Union x UoB MA Art History and Curation students, 2023.

A landscape image of a messy pile of small square publications lying on a table. The publications are pale grey and subtly speckled and feature holographic writing. The words ‘Unmasking’, ‘Remapping, ‘GU’, and ‘UoB’ go around the edges of the booklets, where the light catches the words they shine in rainbow shades.

Unmasking || Remapping publications, produced by The Holodeck, Birmingham, 2024.

A square graphic with a pale pink background. A dark pink pattern of marbled lines stretches down from the left of the frame.

Design by The Holodeck, commissioned by Grand Union x UoB MA Art History and Curation students, 2023.

a landscape image of a small paper booklet lying on a table covered with stickers and crafting materials such as feathers and pipe cleaners The pink page of the booklet reads ‘Unmasking || Remapping. 3 May – 7 June 2024.

Unmasking || Remapping publication produced by the Holodeck, 2024. Image courtesy of Grand Union.

Unmasking || Remapping: Newly Commissioned Writing

June 2024

Unmasking || Remapping was a series of events designed and planned by students from the MA Art History and Curating course at University of Birmingham, responding to our exhibition, ‘Love is Real, and It’s Inside Of My Computer’ by Babeworld x utopian_realism.

Alongside many exciting events; such as a Masked Ball with performances from utopian_realism and Naoibh McNamee; workshops with Babeworld and Bunny Bissoux; an emotional mapping workshop with Lee Mackenzie; and a screening and Q&A with Babeworld and Anne Duffau in collaboration with Flatpack Film Festival, the students commissioned a new publication, produced by The Holodeck.

This publication features new writing by three Birmingham based artists, Roo Dhissou, Bunny Bissoux, and Naoibh McNamee. These short pieces of writing can be read and downloaded below.

Roo Dhissou

Artist/researcher Roo Dhissou works with communities, diasporas and her own histories. Using community engaged practice, craft, cooking, performance and installation she explores how communal and individual identities are formed. Roo has worked with BMAG, New Art Gallery Walsall, The Bluecoat, Tate Liverpool, Primary and internationally in Spain, Canada and Poland.

Read Roo's Unmasking || Remapping text here →

Bunny Bissoux

Bunny Bissoux is an artist and illustrator currently active as an Artist-in-Residence for Grand Union x Bruntwood. They work in a variety of mediums exploring recurring themes including popular culture, gender, queer identity, consumerism, nostalgia, and obsession. Drawing, collecting, and zine-making are all integral parts of their creative practice.

Read Bunny's Unmasking || Remapping text here →

Naoibh McNamee

Naoibh McNamee’s practice focuses on queer and disabled themes; following their own personal experiences in an attempt to understand and explore their position within the world. Naoibh’s work plays with viewers’ expectations and perceptions of disability and queerness, drawing attention to the very things that other them in society while celebrating the communities they find their home within. The artist’s most recent works have explored their queer, autistic and Brummie-Irish existence, using alien and non-human forms to illustrate their very human experiences.

Read Naoibh's Unmasking || Remapping text here →

Unmasking || Remapping was designed to respond to questions of neurodiversity, inclusivity, and accessibility, exploring how cultural institutions can centre neurodiverse accessibility and inclusivity in the arts.

The programme engaged with this question in different ways, both interrogating and modelling how institutional action can foster inclusion and creativity in artistic spaces. The three texts above demonstrate each of the artists exploring their own practices in relation to these ideas, and interrogating how the neurotypical pressure’s of the art world influences their work. These responses are intended as a resource that centre neurodivergent experiences and voices in Birmingham’s art sector.

We have been collaborating with the University of Birmingham on their MA Art History and Curating course since 2017.

Related

a landscape image of a dark gallery space, with a simple but large wooden box sitting within it. Through the doorway of the wooden box, a room with pink walls, and a messy computer desk is visible.

Babeworld x utopian_realismLove is Real, and it’s Inside Of My Computer

Grand Union4 May – 3 August 2024
ExhibitionsInside
a landscape image of a figure dressed in a black tasseled outfit, a brightly coloured harness around their chest and shoulders, a black leather beret, and a pink mask that covers the entirety of their face. The figure has their arms raised and the tassels of the outfit fly outwards, as if in the middle of dancing. The figure is surrounded by pastel toned fabrics in shades of pink, blue, green, and yellow, that hang from the ceiling.

Unmasking || Remapping: Masked Ball with utopian_realism and Naoibh McNamee

Plane Structure7 June 20246–10pm
EventsOutside
a landscape film still taken from Babeworld’s ‘Derby Day’. At the centre of the image, a small blow up man lies on the grey floor in a corridor through a doorway. The smiling face of the man is distorted by the shape of the inflatable, and his body clad in a white t-shirt and black trousers is cartoonish. The low position of the camera provides a clear view of the stacks of DVDs, clothes, figurines, and yellow lighter also lying on the floor in the room before the corridor. Behind the inflatable figure, through a second doorway, part of a cluttered living room is visible.

Unmasking || Remapping x Flatpack: ‘Derby Day’ – Babeworld Screening and Q&A with Anne Duffau

15 May 20246–7.30pm

Mockingbird Cinema
Plus late night gallery opening until 9pm.

EventsInside
A portrait image of lots of printed ephemera stuck to a wall, evoking a teenager's bedroom. The poster's and stickers feature various anime characters and boybands.

Unmasking || Remapping: Mask-making workshop with Babeworld and ‘Deco’ keyring workshop with Bunny Bissoux

Plane Structure, Minerva Works7 June 20244–6pm
EventsInside
A landscape graphic image of dark blue lines and words on a pale, off-white background. The thick, dark blue lines suggest a simple, Labyrinth map.

Unmasking || Remapping: Emotional Mapping Workshop with Lee Mackenzie

8 May 202410.30am–12.30pm

Winterbourne House and Gardens

EventsOutside
A landscape image featuring black line drawn illustrations of various gardening equipment, sites, and plants on a plain white background.

Unmasking || Remapping: Winterbourne Gardens Emotional Mapping Audioguide with Lee Mackenzie

May 2024

OnlineOutside
a still from ‘Derby Day’. A blurred, out-of-focus image of a football pitch and the stands sits on a plain black background. A caption, written in a white text against the black background reads ‘And they were going to let their old, decrepit gooner, their leader, kill me.]

Unmasking || Remapping x Flatpack: Babeworld Q&A with Anne Duffau Podcast

May, 2024

InsideOnline