Alana Jelinek

She is an artist with over 30 years’ experience exhibiting in Europe, Australia, and Asia. Her work encompasses a wide range of media and she chooses the medium that best serves the idea she wants to explore. Previous work has been in painting, novel writing, performance, curating and durational collaborative pieces. Her work often focuses on the legacies of colonialism and, more recently, relationships between humans and non-human others. In 2008 she was awarded her PhD in art practice and art history which explored Art as a Democratic Act. Since 2009 she has been working with the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge on two consecutive, 5 year projects exploring the relationship between collections, collectors and the collected. Her book, 'This is Not Art' about the role and value of contemporary art in society was published in 2013 by I.B.Tauris.

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Alexandra Ferrini

London-based visual artist, researcher and educator based in London. Her work is rooted in lens-based media, post-colonial and memory studies, historiographical and archival practices. Since 2013 she co-directs Mnemoscape, an online magazine, curatorial and research platform dedicated to contemporary art practices exploring issues of memory, history and the ‘archival impulse’. As an artist/educator specialised in participatory practices, Ferrini has worked on commissions at an international level, such as Dome at Chisenhale Gallery (London) and Home Sweet Cary (North Carolina USA). Her latest project, Ghetto Relay was selected for the A-i-R Wro Open Call Europe residence in Fall 2016, in the context of Wroclaw European Capital of Culture (Poland).

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Ana Mendes

She is a writer and visual artist working and living in London and Berlin. She studied animation film at La Poudrière – École du Film d'Animation, Valence/France (2008), photography at Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, Germany (2012), and finished an M. A. in Writing for Performance at Goldsmiths College, University of London (2011). She started to work as a writer, but gradually turned into visual arts. Her performance career started accidentally when she wrote Self-portrait, a play on her identity, in 2010. Since then, she develops projects in which she uses text, performance, sound, installation, video and photography in order to speak on subjects such as identity, language and memory. Her work has been exhibited at the Kunsthal Nord, Denmark, Defibrillator Performance Art Gallery, IL/USA, Sophiensaele, Berlin, Peter Robertson Gallery, Canada; International Theaterfestival MESS, Bosnia, Kana Theatre, Poland, Maison des Arts Georges Pompidou Cajarc, France, Kunstraum Niederoesterreich, Austria and The Barbican Centre, UK.

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Barby Asante

London based artist, curator and educator who's work explores place and identity through creating situations and spaces for dialogue, collective thinking, ritual and reenactment. Using archival material in the broadest sense, she is interested in breaking down the language of archive, not to insert or present alternatives to dominant narratives but to interrupt, interrogate and explore the effects and possibilities of the unheard and the missing. Asante's recent projects include; The South London Black Music Archive a collecting project mapping black music and memories in South London. Her current research considers women and independence, through her family's experience of post colonial independence in Ghana in the political and in personal self determination, also through archives and collections such as the Ghana collection in the Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam and in considering this position in Europe, particularly with regards to migration, the rise of the right and Britain's vote to leave the EU.

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Bumi Thomas

London based visual artist whose artistic philosophy is essentially about transcending cultural boundaries and inverting realities with abstract constructs using photography and music as her mediums of exploration. ‘The human voice is a raging canvas through which words and melodies as mimic patterns of realities. l tell stories about movement, displacement, joy and humanity.’ Born is Glasgow to Nigerian parents, and imbued with a deep curiosity about constructs of fixed identity, she creates thought provoking paradigm shifting pieces that question the function of post-colonial perspectives. Thomas believes in the importance of creating physical/ ideological spaces that encourage women to engage in dialogue about gender issues, take authorship for how they are perceived historically, and reclaim their identity through ART, self-exploration/representation and positive contributions to society.

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Cathy Hassan

After establishing herself as a major force amongst contemporary photographers, Cathy expanded her work to include producing and directing music/dance videos, shorts, and documentaries. 

Burrograndefilms has two productions in the works:  a documentary covering London 1970s, the role of photography and the diverse communities, and a documentary on

women of all ages from 6 continents.

You can find her films on the following websites: 

www.cathyhassan.com / youtube BurrograndeFilms / burrograndeproductions.com

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Chun Hua Catherine Dong

She was born in China, is a visual artist working with performance, photography, and video. She received a M.F.A. from Concordia University and a B.F.A from Emily Carr University Art & Design in Canada. She has performed in multiple international performance art festivals and venues, such as, The Great American Performance Art in New York (2015), Rapid Pulse International Performance Art Festival in Chicago (2015), Infr’Action in Venice (2013), Dublin Live Art Festival (2014), Miami Performance International Festival (2016), Kaunas Biennial in Lithuania (2013), Grace Exhibition Space in Brooklyn (2014), Select Art Fair in New York (2015), ENCUENTRO Performance and Conference in Santiago (2016). Among many other awards and grants, she is the recipient of Franklin Furnace Award for contemporary avant-garde art in New York in 2014. Her performance is featured at Marina Abramovic Institute and listed amongst the ‘‘Top Nine Political Art Projects of 2010’’ by Art and Threat magazine. Dong now lives in Montreal.

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Fatimah Kelleher

She is a Nigerian and Irish-British women’s rights and social development activist and professional involved in feminist and equalities activism, policy, and programming. She works and publishes at the international level on gender issues in education, economic empowerment/justice, and health, primarily across Africa, with a focus on northern Nigeria whenever possible. She also writes on diaspora issues, literature and the arts.  Her varied writings can be found in openDemocracy, African Arguments, the Guardian, Wasafiri and a selection of anthologies.   A perpetual scribbler of verse, she has also been an “on-and-off” performance poet for the last twenty years, sharing her work at spoken word nights, creative venues and literary and creative festivals both in the UK and abroad. Fatimah has worked extensively in Nigeria, particularly in the north, and has also worked in Sudan, Pakistan, Uganda, Ethiopia, India, Liberia and Guyana.

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Hashi Mohamed

He is a barrister at No5 Chambers and a part-time broadcaster at the BBC. Hashi was born in Kenya to Somali parents, raised partly in Kenya but mainly in London. He presents documentaries on BBC Radio 4, most recently on terrorism and how nations react, and also on unaccompanied refugee children and their experiences in Italy. Hashi was called to the Bar in 2010 by The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn and practices in public law and human rights related cases, though his main area of focus is Planning & Environmental law. Most recently, Hashi has been appointed as Special Adviser to David Anderson QC, the Independent Reviewer of terror legislation as he undertakes to review the United Kingdom’s anti-terrorism laws.

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Henrietta Howells

She joined the Natbrainlab in 2009 as a research assistant, working on the white matter pathways of the limbic system in a large multicentre study of autism. In 2012 after completing a degree in Psychology and starting a Masters in Neuroscience at the IoPPN, wherein she recruited and collected data for a BRC-funded study investigating white matter changes in ageing. She is currently a Sackler Scholar, and is concluding a PhD in which she has focused on structural asymmetry of white matter in relation to hand preference and fine motor skill. Her research interests are broad but include brain asymmetry, handedness and cognitive neuropsychology. She has been co-running the Clinical Neuroanatomy Seminars for four years, and teaching at the KCL iBSc Psychology, MSc Neuroscience and at the Natbrainlab tractography workshops.

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Joy Gregory

She was born in England to Jamaican parents, Joy Gregory’s work has been influenced by a combination of race, gender and aesthetics often reflecting on issues colonization and its effects on culture and identity politics. She is known for her work around issues of 'beauty' and the impact of the European colonial project on the everyday lives of ‘ordinary people’ in the contemporary world. Since 2003, Gregory has been working on the issue of language endangerment and most particularly with a small community based in the southern Kalahari whose experience of language loss echoes that of in Indigenous peoples around the globe. She was a shortlisted artist for the Mary Seacole Memorial in London and the General Election Artist Commission of 2015. Her work has placed in private and public major collections around the world since the early 1990’s.

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Khaled Jarrar

He was born in Jenin in 1976, Khaled Jarrar lives and works in Ramallah, Palestine. Jarrar completed his education in Interior Design at the Palestine Polytechnic University in 1996 and later graduated from the International Academy of Art Palestine with a Bachelor in Visual Arts degree in 2011. A year later, his documentary 'The Infiltrators' won several accolades at the 9th Annual Dubai International Film Festival, confirming his importance as a filmmaker in the international scene. With highly symbolic photographs, videos, and performative interventions, focused on his native Palestine, multi-disciplinary artist Khaled Jarrar explores modern power struggles and their socio-cultural impact on ordinary citizens. The everyday objects appearing in Jarrar's reflective work, whether in their form or nature, are juxtaposed with the severity of the issues he examines, thus giving the political content of his art greater significance while underscoring the autobiographical nature of his chosen themes. Jarrar's recent solo exhibitions include Art Bartsch & Cie, Geneva (2015); Galerie Polaris, Paris (2014, 2012); Gallery One, Ramallah (2014); Ayyam Gallery London (2013); Galerie Guy Bartschi, Geneva (2013); the NEWTOPIA: The State of Human Rights Contemporary Arts in Mechelen and Brussels (2012); and the International Academy of Art Palestine, Ramallah (2007).

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Kinsi Abdulleh

She is a visual artist, editor and educator. She is the founder of NUMBI Arts, a London based cross arts and cross cultural non-profit organisation. Rooted in contemporary Somali film, arts and literature, NUMBI Arts is an open archive and on-going forum for shared disaporic experience. Kinsi is the editor and publisher of the literary arts magazine SCARF. Her work as an artist educator focuses on social justice, histories and the female voice. Her organization MUNBI Arts was founded in 1998, as it about celebrating the international and local voices that don’t have the materials or platform to express their voices. They are about art and fostering a sense of community and solidarity amongst artists, arts-lovers, creatives and dreamers of all stripes.

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Luis Lacerda

He is an enthusiast for the brain and for finding new ways to explore it. He holds a Master in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Lisbon, and recently he submitted his thesis for the PhD degree in Neuroimaging at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College. Currently he works at the Institute of Child Health, University College London, where his main works in the development and application of Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging, but also with other MRI techniques. He is also very interested in Neuroanatomy and brain connectivity in both healthy and diseased states, as well as its dissemination to the public. As part of this role, he is part of the NatbrainLab, been actively involved in the organization of seminars and public awareness activities such as the Brain Awareness Week and Native Scientist initiative, where science is brought to children in their own native language. When he is not getting his head around all this, usually he is practicing some sports as football, tennis, swimming, …, soaking up some culture and hanging out with friends!

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Nikki Luna,

She hails from the Philippines where she studied painting at the University of the Philippines (UP). She continued her studies in an art residency at Cooper Union in New York City. During this time, she began to explore topics of feminism in her art, a theme that still permeates through her work today. Luna is currently attending her Master in Women and Development Studies in UP. Luna chooses to use non traditional materials in her installations and sculptures. Such materials are often those that can be found in a domestic setting, such as diapers, eggs, milk and mirrors. Her use of such materials helps create a commentary from a feminist perspective. Not only do her works speak for women in general, but particularly geared towards the female experience within the Philippines. Nikki Luna is founder of the non - profit organisation, StartART Project. Luna has exhibited her work throughout the Philippines but also internationally in cities such as Milan, Beijing, New York and Singapore. Exhibitions include Art Stage Singapore (2011), Japan Aichi Triennale (2013), Singapore biennale (2013), 5th Beijing china biennale (2012), “after image" Museo di Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto (2014/2015), among others.

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Rachel Marsden

Transcultural curator, art consultant, PhD researcher, arts writer, educator and blogger, specialising in Chinese contemporary arts and culture, transcultural curating, international social art practices, art and language, intercultural communication and translation, and (self-)publishing. Lecturer in Art Curatorship (from November 2016) at the University of Melbourne, Australia; Founder and curator of ‘The Temporary’ (since January 2014), a transcultural exchange platform examining “temporary” and ephemeral experience in art, architecture, design, music, sound, performance and culture between the UK and China, and Governing Board Member (since June 2016) for China Residencies. Previously she has worked as Coordinator (Research Assistant) for Centre for Chinese Visual Arts (CCVA, Birmingham, UK); Research Curator for Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art (CFCCA, Manchester, UK), and Visiting Lecturer at undergraduate and postgraduate level on courses across the UK including Contemporary Curatorial Practice, Contemporary Asian Art, Fine Art and Visual Arts.

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Rosanna Raymond

Over the past twenty years, Raymond's activities have made her a notable producer of and commentator on contemporary Pacific Island culture, in Aotearoa New Zealand, the UK, and the USA. She specialises in working within museums and higher education institutions as an artist, performer, curator, guest speaker, poet and workshop leader. Raymond was recently appointed an Honorary Research Associate at the Department of Anthropology and Institute of Archaeology at University College London. She has achieved international renown for her performances, installations, body adornment, and spoken word. She is a published writer and poet, her works are held by museums and private collectors across the globe. Since returning to New Zealand to live she has had her first solo exhibition and has been invited to take part the 8th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art opening at the Queensland Art Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA), Brisbane, Australia. A dynamic artist, her work is consistent in its celebration of Pasifika and the engagements it invokes and evokes; whether between museum collections and contemporary Pacific art or museums and urban spaces.

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Vasco Araújo

Lives and works in Lisbon. He studied sculpture at the University of Lisbon and attended the Advanced Plastic Arts at Lisbon’s Maumaus School of Fine Arts and Photography. He has taken part in residency programs, such as The University of Arts, Philadelphia (2007), Récollets, Paris (2005) and the Core Program (2003-04), Houston. In 2003, he was awarded the EDP Prize for New Artists. Araújo has participated in various solo exhibitions and festivals both in Portugal and abroad including Museu de Arte Popular, Lisbon (2013), Théâtre de la Ville, Paris (2013), Pinacoteca do estado de S. Paulo (2013), Museu Geológico- LNEG, Lisbon (2013), Galeria Horrach Moya, Palma de Mallocra (2012), Fundação Carmona e Costa, Lisbon (2011), Musée d’art de Joliette (2011), Porta 33, Funchal (2010), Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisbon, Museu da Cidade – Pavilhão Branco, Lisbon (2010), The Boston Center for the Arts (2008), 28th Bienal de Sao Paulo (2008), 1st Moscow Biennale (2005), and the 51st Venice Biennial (2005). His work is in several institutional collections, such as the Georges Pompidou Centre, France, Museum of Fine Arts Houston, EUA, Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, among others.