The Amarachi Collection:
Uncovering Grace through Chaos
A Black Mind and Sweet ‘Art collaboration
For one week at the end of May 2022, we brought #MentalHealthAwareness month to an end in style with an art-meets-mental-health inspired takeover of Art Bypass gallery in collaboration with We are Sweet ‘Art.
Set in the heart of Hoxton next to stunning basin views, we nested in the gallery and hosted an exciting programme of cultural events, including an indigenous Igbo queer feminine art exhibition, an opening party with interactive poetry performance and a private viewing of the exhibition, three wellbeing workshops, a collaborative community poem, a Zine library including our zine BadMind and trauma-informed creative healing sessions.
Black Mind invited one and all to this unique celebration of art, activism and radical self-healing. The exhibition, an example of our Open Space creative programme, debuted the visual art of Founder, Amarachi Rachel Nwokoro. Pieces on display explore the psycho-spiritual journey of initiation as Ezenwanyi— an Igbo feminine-embodied mystic, trained in the healing arts and creativity as medicine.
It was a truly grassroots and community led enterprise - we had plenty of drop ins from locals and a collective canvas was created during the time.
About Sweet ‘Art: Sweet ‘Art is dedicated to the promotion of artists through the delivery of regular site-specific exhibitions. With a specific emphasis on working with artists who are marginalized from the marketplace, Sweet ‘Art aims to provide an accessible and inclusive space for looking at, thinking about and debating art.
Thank you so much Sweet ‘Art for so generously sharing your resources and for disrupting the patriarchal energies around art curation with us.
We are excited to hold space with you again!
Want to give this exhibition a future life? Email us at anna@BlackMind.co.uk
