Explore the objects used in Khadija Saye’s photography.
This is an online event hosted on Zoom. Bookers will be sent a link in advance giving access.
Khadija Saye: in this space we breathe is
a series of nine powerfully evocative silk-screen prints by Gambian-British artist
Khadija Saye (1992–2017) currently on display in the Upper Ground Gallery at the Library.
The series demonstrates Khadija’s deep concern with ‘how trauma is embodied in the black experience’ and her exploration of her Gambian heritage and mixed-faith background. She photographed herself with cultural, religious and spiritual objects of significance both to her Christian mother and Muslim father, and in African traditions of spirituality.
Composed of nine powerfully evocative self-portraits, this display of prints by Gambian-British artist Khadija Saye explores her enduring fascination with traditions of spirituality, and marks the artist’s concern with ‘how trauma is embodied in the black experience’.
Saye grew up in London, and her work and photographic technique experiment with the contrast and balance between her life in Britain and The Gambia. Throughout the series Saye uses objects to convey the importance of her personal connection to Gambian rituals – from purification to protection, the artworks demonstrate her desire for moments of spiritual grounding.
Saye and her mother, Mary Ajaoi Augustus Mendy, were tragically killed in the Grenfell fire in 2017. Sadly, many of Saye’s emotive, multi-layered and profound artworks, as well as objects used in them, were also lost. In the same year, her works were displayed in the Diaspora Pavilion at the Venice Biennale.