Assissted by: Yas Lime (set assistant) and Zodi (makeup artist)
Produced by Fierce for Healing Gardens of Bab
Fierce had invited artists Sunil Gupta and Charan Singh to create a new body of photographic work with members of Journey, a Midlands LGBTQ+ community group for people secking asvium or who have been through the asylum process. The British Empire exported homophobia across the world and many Commonwealth countries retain these prejudiced penal codes to this day. In India, Section 377, introduced by the British in 1860, criminalised homosexuality. Gupta's series The New Pre-Raphaelites, produced in response to this law, was the inspiration for this invitation.
Arrival is a collaborative artwork between Sunil Gupta and Charan Singh themselves migrants to the UK. Using the 19th century native studio portrait that illustrated Victorian notions of behavioural identities, the artists invoke this colonial legacy and subvert the histories of the Empire Specifically, its homophobic anti-sodomy laws that still haunt many Commonwealth nations. Together with their subjects, they create empathetic poetic gestures to express their sitters' range of emotions. sometimes joyful and sometimes anxious, always anticipating when the process of their arrival will become complete Every sitter brings a unique narrative to the collecave stories of refugees and aslum seekers. The project is also a reminder that extreme homophobia exists beyond the Commonwealth in many parts of the world. including some European countries.
In partnership with Pride House wearefierce.org #HealingGardensOfBabs