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Past Event
Join us online for a panel discussion that addresses the social history of cotton through artistic intervention
This event will take place online via Zoom. A link will be shared with those who have booked the day before
Autograph's current exhibition Talking Back to Power by artist C. Rose Smith features evocative black and white self-portraits that revolve around the white cotton shirt, staged at locations affiliated with the wealth generated from cotton plantations in the Southern United States of America.
Join us online where Smith will address the symbolism of coloniality, patriarchy and respectability through the act of wearing cotton textiles in her photographs. She will be joined by artist Holly Graham, whose practice focuses on the histories of exploitative labour inherent in the material and social histories of cotton. The discussion will begin with short presentations by each artist before an in conversation chaired by the curator of Talking Back to Power, Bindi Vora.
Everyone is welcome to join, from any location. The primary language used will be English.
Closed captioning will be enabled at this Zoom event. During the event, click the closed caption icon to start captions and view the live transcript.
Only our event speakers and host will be visible on screen. Attendees will not be visible on screen.
Holly Graham is a London-based artist whose work looks at ways in which memory and narrative shape collective histories; and in turn inform shared futures.
She is currently the artist-in-residence at Manchester Art Gallery, researching their costumes and textiles collection. Holly holds a BFA from Oxford University and an MA in Printmaking from the Royal College of Art. Current projects include commissions with UP Projects & Barnet Council (2024); TACO! (2021-24); and Manchester Art Gallery (2024). Recent solo projects include commissions with: Locales, Rome (2023); Deptford X (2023), London; Skelf, Online (2022); Robert Young Antiques, London (2021); Gaada, Shetland (2020); Goldsmiths CCA, Online (2020); and Southwark Park Galleries, London (2020). Holly is an Associate Lecturer at the Royal College of Art, London; and is Co-Founder of Cypher BILLBOARD, London. She was awarded a Sainsbury Scholarship at the British School in Rome for 2023.
C. Rose Smith (born 1995), is a visual artist examining the role of photography in constructing the layers of identity and individuality.
Using fashion, site-specificity and elements gleaned from studio-portraiture, her photographs engender a subversive performance that gestures a critique of social norms. Her work has been exhibited in group exhibitions in the U.S. and Europe, and is held in private collections. Smith is an MFA candidate in Photography at Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, NY and earned a BFA in Photography from Savannah College of Art and Design in Atlanta, GA. She is based in Memphis, TN.
Bindi Vora is an interdisciplinary artist of Kenyan-Indian heritage, associate lecturer at LCC and senior curator at Autograph, London.
Since joining Autograph, she has curated C. Rose Smith: Talking Back to Power (2024) Mónica Alcázar-Duarte: Digital Clouds Don’t Carry Rain (2024) Hélène Amouzou: Voyages (2023) Eric Gyamfi: Fixing Shadows – Julius & I (2023), Poulomi Basu: Fireflies (2022), co-curated Sasha Huber: YOU NAME IT (2022), Care I Contagion I Community – Self & Other (2021–2022); Lola Flash: [sur]passing and Maxine Walker: Untitled (both 2019). She published a series artist conversations with Sasha Huber, Mónica Alcázar-Duarte, Maryam Wahid, Tobi Alexandra Falade, David Uzochukwu amongst others. She has independently curated Poulomi Basu: Centralia for Rencontres d’Arles – Louis Roederer Discovery Award (2020); her writing has appeared in publications by Maryam Wahid Zaibuinnisa (MAC, 2022); Another Country: British Documentary Photography Since 1945 (Thames & Hudson); FOAM and British Journal of Photography, participating in public programmes for Tate, GRAIN Photo Hub, The Photographers’ Gallery. She is currently part of the working group ‘Climate and Colonialism’ at The Paul Mellon Centre and Autograph, London.
Confronting the histories of violence and wealth on cotton plantations in the Southern United States, Talking Back To Power proposes a reclamation of black visibility
Find out more
Introducing the artist and key themes in the new exhibition
Read blog post | 4 min read
Find out more about the newly commissioned works in the exhibition
See moreThe artist in conversation with exhibition curator Bindi Vora
Read blog post | 8 min read Autograph's events are popular, and often sell out. We recommend booking a ticket in advance. This event is free.
Banner image: C. Rose Smith, Untitled no. 51 [detail], Nottoway Plantation, White Castle, Louisiana, 2022. From the series Talking Back to Power. © and courtesy the artist.
Images on page: 1) Holly Graham. Photograph by Thierry Bal. 2) Courtesy of C.Rose Smith (2024). 3) Bindi Vora. Photograph by Zoë Maxwell. 4) C. Rose Smith, Untitled no. 55 [detail], Nottoway Plantation, White Castle, Louisiana 2022. From the series Talking Back to Power. © and courtesy the artist.
Autograph is a place to see things differently. Since 1988, we have championed photography that explores issues of race, identity, representation, human rights and social justice, sharing how photographs reflect lived experiences and shape our understanding of ourselves and others.
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