Destinie Paige on curating an exhibition that redefines and challenges preconceived ideas on coming from ‘Endz.’
Pacheanne Anderson speaks with South-London based Filmmaker, Photographer and Set Designer, Destinie Paige about her curatorial debut BLK BXY JOY currently on view at Photofusion.
Destinie Paige a trained photographer and film artist has turned her focus on curation and bringing a project to life that she had been planning since 2019. As a result of being awarded the Black Women Artists Grant from HOME by Ronan Mckenzie - a £2000 award for Black women artists to produce a creative project and with support from Photofusion’s Youth Programme (where she has been a long-standing youth mentee), Destinie has produced a high-quality exhibition and is an example of what is possible for young budding curators to achieve with both financial and organisational support.
Tucked behind the Brixton Recreation Center, on the third floor at 3 SPACE [inside International House], sits Photofusion's new location, inside the space, Destinie Paige showcases some of the most exciting young Black artistic talents that London has to offer. The exhibition presents some fantastic photography, sculptural and film work which shows colourful and energetic interpretations of what may seem like mundane Black life. The overall themes of community enjoyment, family and unity were accurately documented.
Nico Froehlich – South of the River
Pacheanne Anderson Great to meet you Destinie, thanks for the tour of this beautiful show. The first thing I really want to know is how you got involved with Photofusion and where the idea to present a curated space for BLK BXY JOY that encourages public engagement and conversation?
Destinie Paige Well, my curatorial practice is very new. I’ve been making films and doing photography as part of the Photofusion’s Youth Programme as a mentee for a while now, and when I got the funding to make the idea happen, I had so much support from the people here (at photofusion) and at first, I found it hard to think in a curatorial way but as I went through the project and spoke more to the artists I started to understand my curatorial vision; it feels almost like an extension of my artistic film and photography practice. They definitely inform each other now.
I really tried to focus on colour theory and think of ways that I could reflect all our community as we can be seen in so many different bodies, generations and identities. I also wanted to show unseen or under-represented artists that spotlight new visions of Black masculinity and femininity. Even for this exhibition, I edited one of my old fashion films, which showed a larger figured Black woman, dancing and posing confidently in bright bold colours, into a silent film montage / moving image work, which complimented the colours and movement of the clothing on the model seen in the series of the images next to it.
Mariana Dos Santos Pires - Talia
I really wanted to celebrate different types of Black people in their joy through the curation. I'm not a small figured Black woman myself - the photography series highlighting fuller sized Black women in bright coloured dresses having a good time, in conversation with the moving image work is why this wall is my favourite one.
Tolu Elusadé – Beyond Kiki Ball 230721
Pacheanne Anderson I think you have done a wonderful job with the selected works, that wall is particularly beautiful. Any images of Black mxn and wxmen smiling and moving freely is always uplifting and quite impactful actually. You can definitely tell that you spent a really long time looking into the details to show this type of work. That brings me to the question; often, when we experience film or photography, especially when presented in an art context or gallery space, there are sometimes small details that are missed or aren’t regarded as important as they might be when considering the installation for other art mediums such as painting for example. How did bringing different mediums together feel for you?
Destinie Paige: I couldn't see things from a curatorial perspective at first, usually, ideas come quickly, but it was something I started to understand and feel as I went through the project. I knew l wanted to produce an immersive experience that made me feel the way the works made me feel when I walked into the environment. I think when deciding on placements for the film in the section behind the main space, I wanted people to go there, and sit down and take their time and be comfortable. It's quite a small space and really intimate. I wanted to just experiment with the way the work could be presented and how it could impact the person watching the film.
The overall layout and feel of the main exhibition space is meant to replicate a jazz bar. That's why we put the small tables, and as it gets darker outside, the little lamps [in the centre of these small round high tables] set a vibe for the space where people want to stand, drink and talk to each other.
Pacheanne Anderson The tables and lights are a really nice touch, considering the location it sits adjacent to, the history of music, good vibes and a multitude of diverse cultural interaction is something Brixton is definitely known for, the way you have positioned the walls in a V shape [coming outwards towards you] is very inviting and gives me the feeling of wanting to be part of something. Your experience and skills as a set designer seem to have definitely played a huge part in making those decisions.
Destinee Paige Thank you. It has, yes. Even the bench cushions in the immersive space where the film Dear Philadelphia is displayed, are the same colour as the walls of the main space behind it, which also presents a documentary series about Black families. I wanted to show connections to things that showed different visions of Black joy and playfulness away from trauma through themes AND presentation.
Renee Maria Osubu – Play Street from Dear Philadelphia
Pacheanne Anderson This particular film work by Renee Maria Osubu you are referring to, is such a beautiful portrayal of Black family units. It presents fathers and sons, existing within a loving space and it was heartwarming to watch, especially with the way you presented it. [The film was in a thick black frame, lifted and slightly offset a layer of black mounting to bring the film closer to the viewer] It was fantastic and really gave the work a sense of importance. Looking at the film felt like when you look up to see a large beautifully framed painting in a museum. Can you tell me how you approached these decisions and how it was to see the final outcome?
Destinie Paige Dear Philadelphia, had some beautiful moments of Black families laughing, just living and being together in their home environments, sitting on their front steps, playing outside and it was a portrait taken of Black culture in a completely different place [USA] but giving the same feeling as some of the other works in the series by Ryan Prince on the wall behind it.
Pacheanne Anderson Prince’s photo series shows a Black British family in their living room with a photo backdrop set up and really starts an interesting conversation about the differences in Black British culture and Black American culture - both bodies of work are in juxtaposition with the other which I found quite powerful. Where the family seem happy in Dear Philadelphia, Prince's series is much more reflective; the family portrayed seem to be in mid-discussion or confrontation and have been placed in this environment to be photographed.
Ryan Prince – Can You Sit For Me Younger Brother (Diddy)
The photo series is a very emotive response into different portrayals of happiness, as their confrontation is genuine and playful. The series wholly translates through the black and white stylisation of the work, which again, was intensified through the presentational devices you chose by using white mounting within a textured silver frame to bring the images forward - closer to the viewer.
Destinie Paige I wanted to use different ways to present the images to give all of the photography works their own space to breathe. For example, after seeing how Dear Philadelphia looked in the frame I chose, I decided I wanted to play around with the other works that it shared space with. This small area was dedicated to documentary and I thought it would be a nice way to express the idea of a portrait or documentary more engagingly so I enlarged one of the original photographs Concrete Horseman by Cian Oba-Smith and used the cropped, enlarged section as a backdrop to present the two images on top.
Pacheanne Anderson This is a really cool way to make the space feel more intentional. Alongside the Joel Claudio - Its Our Call image [photographed by Matt Miller], which depicted a young teenage boy on his bike mid-laughter, was beautifully placed in context with Cian Oba-Smith's work which presents a series of men poised on their horses. The works really complemented each other down to the structural integrity and stance of subjects in both images. It was nice to see the undertones of Black culture and identity through these images taken on opposite ends of the world, photographing teens in the areas around where they lived also. Was this intentional?
Destinie Paige Yes, having those works shown together was definitely intentional. One thing I wanted the exhibition to do was redefine people's understanding of Black men or the preconceived image of what the ‘endz’ is or might be for those not from there. These works did that for me as they are showing how varied Black life can be, as both artists are photographing portraits of actual kids on their bikes and horses in areas around their homes.
Pacheanne Anderson In a similar way, the placement of PJ Harper’s work was presented in harmony with Karis Baumont’s image Ozie, which sat directly opposite the arrangement of sculptural works - it was a really nice dialogue to interact with, so thank you for that. Did these curatorial decisions become easier as you developed the project, or were they things you really had to ponder for a sustained period?
Destinie Paige When I asked artists to send work initially, I chose a selection and then as the project went on I asked for their portfolios and really took time looking into their work and thinking on how I could have themes to link the work together. I started having conversations about deeper themes with artists and as the curatorial process developed, new ideas about how to present the space and make it immersive came to me. I was able to focus on nuanced details to bring images to life as I had great support from framers that someone recommended me, and the great relationship I have with Photofusion via youth programme meant there was support for free printing and advice on scanning and rescanning as some of the photos I wanted really big and I wanted to maintain high quality as much as possible for respect of the works.
Pacheanne Anderson That's beautiful. I am really excited to see what your plans for the future are. It was a really great curatorial debut. How was your overall process, and what’s next?
Destinie Paige Aw, really? Thank you, I’m glad you enjoyed it. I want to share my process with other people. I’m planning to produce a document of my entire experience to show people what it was like at different points and how to make something like this come together. I will still be making films and plan to curate more definitely. I really appreciate you coming down to see the exhibition and do the interview.
Pacheanne Anderson Of course, It was really beautiful to see, I hope many young curators visit the space at Photofusion to experience BLK BXY JOY.
The exhibition BLK BXY JOY is open until March 3rd, open between 11 am and 5 pm Tuesday to Saturday more information can be found here.
