Book launch and conversation offering new insights into the artist's work, artist practice, and legacy

Join us for a special evening celebrating the launch of Autograph’s major new publication Rotimi Fani-Kayode: Tranquility of Communion, bringing the life and work of one of the most significant figures in the history of Black photography into fuller view.

New research, previously unpublished photographs and never-before-shown drawings from his student years come together in closely observed and tenderly crafted reflections on Fani-Kayode’s practice - one that expanded the terms of Black and queer self-representation. Conceived as a photographic communion, the book considers the continuing force of the artist's work and the ways it redefines what it means to see through an exiled, diasporic and queer lens.

For this special launch event, Autograph’s Director Professor Mark Sealy, curator of the touring exhibition Tranquility of Communion and co-editor of the publication, will be joined by photographic artist and archival curator Dr. Ajamu X, who knew and worked closely with Fani-Kayode , and modelled for him in the late 1980s. Writer, editor and critic Evan Moffitt will also broaden the discussion, drawing on his writing and research on the artist, from the neo-baroque sensuality of the photographs and their relationship to Yoruba cosmology to the artist’s challenge to the right-wing politics of 1980s Britain.

The presentations will be followed by an audience Q&A and drinks reception, with an opportunity to purchase the publication. Visitors will also be able to explore Autograph’s new exhibitions Our Bodies Have Been Bridges and Charan Singh: Your Tongue in My Mouth.

About the speakers

Dr. Ajamu X (Hons FRPS) is a darkroom / fine art photographic artist, archival curator and co-founder of Spit & Spider Press. His photographs, rooted in process, unapologetically celebrate the body ,the erotic senses and sensuality/sensuousness. Working across both analogue and digital , his practice centres traditional 19th Century printing processes, in particular the Platinum print.

Dr Mark Sealy OBE, RPS Outstanding Service Award; Executive Director of Autograph (1991 -) and Professor, Photography, Rights and Representation at University Arts London - London College of Communication. Sealy is interested in the relationship between art, photography and social change, identity politics, race, and human rights. He gained his PhD from Durham University, England.

Evan Moffitt is a writer, editor, and critic. He is currently Senior Digital Editor at The Observer. His writing appears in The Guardian, The New York Times, Financial Times, Artforum, Art in America, Art Review and Aperture, among other publications.

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Supported by

Supported using public funding by Arts Council England.

Images: 1) Mónica de Miranda, Whistle for the Wind [detail], from The Island, 2021. Commissioned by Autograph. Supported by Art Fund. 2) Autograph. Photograph by Zoë Maxwell.

Description supplied by the event organiser.