Housed in a tent surrounded by protest signs, Embassy is a space for activism and dialogue in support of Aboriginal land rights in Australia. It also acts as a space of solidarity for all those who have experienced injustice and oppression as a result of the legacy of European invasion and colonialism.
Embassy is activated through a series of public conversations with Richard Bell and guest speakers. This day will include discussions with artists, designers and community organisers Sutapa Biswas, Tian Zhang, Sourabh Phadke, Subash Thebe Limbu and Angela Camacho.
14:00-14:45
This conversation between Richard Bell and Tian Zhang, who is a curator, writer and founding co-director of Pari, an artist-run initiative in Parramatta, will explore collective practice, their experiences at Documenta Fifteen and Tian's text 'A manifesto for radical care or how to be a human in the arts
14:45-15:30
Richard Bell invites Yakthung (Limbu) artist, Subash Thebe Limbu to discuss his film work, Ningwasum which draws from Adivasi Futurism and imagines a future where Indigenous people have agency, sovereignty and their indigenous knowledge, culture, ethics and storytelling are still intact.
15:30-16:15
Join us for an artistic exchange between Richard Bell and Sutapa Biswas who is a British Indian artist who works across a range of media including painting, drawing, sculptural installation, film and photography. They will be discussing Biswas' contributions to the British Black Arts Movement and her practice which challenges established power structures in our intimate and socio-cultural worlds.
16:15-17:00
This conversation with mason and architect, Sourabh Phadke will explore his work with communities on aspects of building crafts, sustainable sanitation, appropriate technologies, and design. It will also consider the renewable and proactive infrastructure he has created for large-scale exhibition-making.
17:00-17:45
The final discussion with Angela Camacho @thebonitachola a community organiser, creative and ancestor in the making, will explore her fight for the rights of Indigenous and Latinx communities in London and beyond.
Sutapa Biswas was born in India and educated in the UK since the age of four. She is an interdisciplinary, conceptual artist who works across a range of media including painting, drawing, film and time-based media. Biswas graduated with a BA in Fine Art with Art History from Leeds University and completed her postgraduate degree at the Slade School of Art. She was also a research student at the Royal College of Art. Biswas’ works have been exhibited globally, including solo exhibitions in Brazil, UK, USA, and Canada. Biswas was the 2008 Andrew W. Mellon Fellow at the Yale Centre for British Art, and is a European Photography Award 1992 nominee.
Angela Camacho aka @thebonitachola is a London-based artist, community organiser and domestic worker who fights for the rights of indigenous and Latinx communities and works to amplify the struggles of indigenous, trans and womxn activists in the Global South. She is a member of the grassroots collective Wretched of the Earth. Her practice is guided by the principle of becoming a good ancestor.
Subash Thebe Limbu is a Yakthung artist based in Kathmandu, Nepal and London. Working with sound, film, music, performance, painting and podcast, he draws on science and speculative fiction to address Indigenous struggles resulting from the effects of colonization and climate change. Limbu graduated from Central Saint Martins at the University of the Arts London and holds degrees from Middlesex University and Lalit Kala Campus in Kathmandu.
Sourabh Phadke is a mason and architect, who designs and builds with earth and allied traditional materials, and a schoolteacher, teaching science and social studies to children. He works with communities on aspects of building crafts, sustainable sanitation, appropriate technologies and design.
Tian Zhang is a curator, facilitator, writer and collaborative artist based on Dharug Country in western Sydney. Her practice is underscored by conversation, criticality, solidarity and joy. With a deep commitment to grassroots and collective methodologies, Tian is a founding co-director of Pari, a collective-run gallery for Parramatta. In 2021, Tian joined the Artistic Directorate of Next Wave in a new co-artistic leadership model for the organisation. Tian recently participated in Documenta Fifteen as co-facilitator of Gudskul's collective studies program — living, cooking, eating, cleaning and communing within the Museum Fridericianum for 50 days. Her text 'A manifesto for radical care or how to be a human in the arts' was published online by Sydney Review of Books, with print editions by Documenta Fifteen’s Lumbung Press and Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Canada.