Responding to themes of courage, knowledge and humanity, the projects include an augmented reality walking experience; archival research and a series of performances, events and conversations; and a landmark mural and series of spoken word poems. 

The projects include an augmented reality walking experience; archival research and a series of performances, events and conversations; and a landmark mural and series of spoken word poems. Each project has been conceived and realised by an artist from the Black community in Brighton & Hove, with these awards forming a key part of the Culture Alliance’s work to create more equitable opportunities across the creative and cultural sector in the city.

StreetStory, by Artist and Developer Judith, is a site-specific augmented reality walking experience for the city of Brighton & Hove. Launching at Jubilee Library 20-25 November 2023, alongside artworks from students who have helped create this ground-breaking experience, StreetStory uses smartphone technology to overlay information around the city with digital artefacts, helping to reveal the hidden history about the city’s involvement in the transatlantic slave trade.

Judith says: “By walking, and experiencing this difficult history amongst the physical buildings of the city’s enslavers, my hope is that audiences will contemplate our legacy by walking with the past directly overlaid onto parts of our local neighbourhoods. 

“This work is designed not just to highlight locations in the city, but most importantly to start to make connections with the plantations and people which had a significant financial influence on this city. My goal for this highly experimental work is to encourage reflection, discussion, dialogue and further research within Brighton & Hove’s diverse communities relating to how we remember and commemorate the people of this legacy who, generationally, helped to shape this city”. 

The Seeds of The Transatlantic Slave Trade by African Night Fever is a research project that culminates in a music and spoken word poetry performance by artists and musicians of African and African Caribbean descent on Saturday 11 November 2023, as part of the annual Family Day Take Part multicultural celebration at Brighton Dome and Brighton Museum. The project aims to shed light on the profound impact and enduring musical legacy of the transatlantic slave trade within the African Caribbean communities of Brighton & Hove and celebrate the strength and enduring spirit of the ancestors who survived the journey from Africa to the Americas and the Caribbean. Presented in partnership with Writing Our Legacy.  

Ebou Touray, CEO of African Night Fever, says: “This project aims to reveal the bravery, true creativity and fruits of the hardship of our enslaved African ancestors, who have created for us the pathway to music such as blues, jazz, reggae and hip hop and the roots of our ancestral history. We are indebted to preserving their legacy through the creation of this collaborative and experimental piece of work. We hope that audiences of all ages and backgrounds will join us on Sat 11 November at Brighton Dome to share the joy of this special work.” 

I Sing My Song To The Sea by Yemisi Mokuolu is inspired by the tradition of gathering stories and singing them to the sea and has been created in collaboration with Brighton local residents from all walks of life, nationalities and experiences who have shared their questions, knowledge, thoughts, and opinions on Brighton & Hove’s relationship with the transatlantic slave trade. Their responses have been used to create video clips, a landmark mural and spoken-word pieces by a team of Brighton-based visual and spoken word artists. These works will be unveiled on 9 November at a ceremony starting at the new mural then making its way via a procession to the sea where the spoken word pieces will be presented to the sea, symbolizing healing and good fortune for Brighton’s communities as they navigate the effects of the transatlantic slave trade. The spoken word poems will be available to listen to via QR codes placed around the city.

Yemisi Mokuolu says: “This project aims to expand knowledge, nurture courage, and foster humanity by creating engaging talking pieces, safe spaces for difficult conversations, and standout works of art that bring us together.” 

Kim Jack-Riley, Chair of the Culture Alliance’s Anti-Racism Collective says:

“One of the Alliance’s aims is to support the city’s valuable creative and cultural sector to be diverse and anti-racist. The Exhale Creative Grant project provides an outlet for Black creatives living and working in Brighton & Hove to tell our own story. Each artist has used innovation and creativity to uncover and acknowledge truths about our city’s history whilst paying homage to the African and Caribbean people at the heart of that history.”