Staffordshire artists William Ntiamoah and Daby Obiechefu are doing a two-week residency at Newcastle Common as part of the TRIBES: Matabeleland to Staffordshire art exhibition exploring themes of African and Afro-Caribbean heritage, and Afrofuturism.

But what is an artist’s residency? And what is Afrofuturism?

The idea behind an artist’s residency is for them to be inspired by a new environment. Artists tend to work in the same space for most of their time, and a change of surroundings can help them to feel a fresh energy when starting new work.

Afrofuturism is another way of looking at the future of Africa and black people. It’s about looking back to what we know of African culture and history, then looking forward to the future where more Western industrial influence might prevail and imagining how they will blend together. What will that look like? How will images that we are familiar with today as uniquely black African change as technology is introduced?

Daby and William said: “It’s really important for us to have two-way conversations with new people. Without them, and the thoughts shared by visitors, a residency would achieve nothing. We want anybody who is interested in our work as artists, or in the themes we are exploring about and how that might be changing, not to be shy in coming to chat with us. We want you to inspire us!”

Both artists will also be delivering a free workshop as part of Newcastle Common’s week-long programme of half-term activities. And they are hoping that the people who come along will create their own art in residence to be displayed alongside their own, which will be on show at Astley Walk and open to the public 3-5 November.

WILLIAM

William’s first solo exhibition is called Look the Other Way, currently on show at Chapter’s Café at Keele University, is a collection of 10 oil paintings showcasing the everyday life in Africa we never get to see. You can see his work there until 14 November.

During his residency William will also be preparing pages to use as part of his zine workshop. What is a zine? A zine is a DIY magazine that anybody can make using their own drawings, writing or by using found materials such scraps of pages from other magazines or printouts.

The finished zine will be digitized and available for everyone to view online. And elements from the zine might even make it into the final pieces that William creates as part of his residency. So who knows, if you visit the workshop, your ideas could end up on display as a work of art!

DABY

Daby’s work is usually focused on her thoughts and feelings, and she portrays them in her art. For this residency she is inspired by Afro-Caribbean culture and heritage. This will carry over into the sgraffito workshop that you can join for free during October half term. What is sgraffito? Sgraffito is a type of ‘scratched art’, whereby a top black layer covers something more colourful beneath that can be revealed by scratching away the black with a skewer.

During her residency Daby will be preparing the sgraffito cards, which have representations of traditional African patterns as the colour underlayer. She is looking forward to seeing what images people choose to scratch into their card. What inspires them about Africa? Will it be animals, or food? Whatever the pictures that are created, they will be put on display next to her own artworks from the exhibition.

Meet the Artists in Residence: 20, 21, 22, 27, 28 & 29 October, 11am-3pm

Daby – Sgraffito Workshop: Thursday 27 October 1-2.30pm

William – Zine Making Workshop: Saturday 29 October 1-2.30pm

View the Final Display: 3, 4, 5 November 11am-3pm

To see details of all the half-term workshops at Newcastle Common, go tour What’s On page or see our Facebook page @appetite.stoke