Bringing The World Reimagined Globes to Bristol in Quest for Racial Justice

In two months, The World Reimagined will see trails of over 100 large globe structures in seven cities across the UK from 13 August – 31 October 2022. We’re sponsoring the Queen Square globe, one of four in the BID area and 10 in Bristol.

Today The World Reimagined announces its commissioned artists – who will create globes responding to the themes ranging from ‘Mother Africa’ and ‘The Reality of Being Enslaved’ to ‘Still We Rise’ and ‘Expanding Soul’. Each globe will enable the public to experience, discover and be inspired by art as well as present the opportunity to be part of the discourse around racial justice and what it means to be British.

As a UK wide project, each of the cities involved – Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool City Region, London, and Swansea – will play a key role in curating and hosting artists, who will be designing globes, sharing their own perspective and artistic experience on working with this subject matter and the transformative power of art.

The globes endeavour to bring people together and allow them to engage in complex conversations around who we are as a society – stimulate dialogue, raise consciousness, and create social change.

There will be 103 globe sculptures across the seven cities and each trail will consist of 10 globes: one for each of the nine themes of the Journey of Discovery. The tenth globe has been designed by an artist in collaboration with community groups local to the trail.

Art has the unique ability to invite dialogue for us to collectively process, participate and reflect. Artists remind us who we are and help us to imagine who we can be. I am excited for the country to engage with these globes and am deeply grateful to have such incredibly talented, open and thoughtful artists involved. They offer us multivariate angles from which to understand the Transatlantic Trade of Enslaved Africans, and its legacies. I hope the power of this project will contribute to an equitable and inclusive pathway forward.

Ashley Shaw Scott Adjaye, Artistic Director of The World Reimagined

Joining Founding Artist Yinka Shonibare CBE, who designed the sculpture’s form, the World Reimagined artists for Bristol include Emma Blake Morsi, Godfried Donkor, Leon Miller, Oishiii Rowan, Bandele Iyapo, Adam Grose, Felix Braun, 3dom, Michele Curtis and Jasmine Thompson (artist of Neighbours at Bristol Light Festival 2022, see image).

The artists were invited to engage with the project in several ways including an open call and direct commissions. Between the collaborations and open call engagements, artists will bring to life the Journey of Discovery in a profoundly honest, and engaging manner, with chronological themes.

The trails are the centre of a broader learning and community programme – with schools, community groups, sporting, and cultural institutions from across the UK taking part.

As I have looked at the many thoughtful entries, the enormous responsibility we have when releasing works that speak to a challenging subject into prominent public spaces, has hung over me. It is exciting that we are getting these artist's work out into the world - literally on the streets. And while we should be sensitive to concerns, we should not shy away from having uncomfortable conversations that these Globes will undoubtedly provoke. Artists have always done this, and the artists we have chosen will now have the chance to become a part of this history.

Chris Ofili CBE, open call jury panellist and British Turner Prize-winning painter

Alongside the announcement of artists, The World Reimagined is pleased to announce a major UK-wide partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies, as part of its ongoing commitments to arts, education and racial justice.

The World Reimagined will inspire and create a moment to open imaginations to new possibilities – instil pride in what it means to be Black and British. It will be one of the largest art education projects for racial justice the UK has seen, and the globe sculptures will play an integral role in helping people travel through this Journey of Discovery. The juxtaposition of themes, activism and art will make for a truly unique moment as we examine this very important part of history, and help us to better understand what it means to be British.

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Bringing The World Reimagined Globes to Bristol in Quest for Racial Justice

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