John Latham at 100: African Incidentalism
Tuesday 23 February 2021 at 4–5pm (UK Time)
ZOOM EVENT, HOSTED BY:
WAYIWAYI ART STUDIO AND GALLERY, LIVINGSTONE, ZAMBIA
John Latham was born on 23rd February, 1921, in Livingstone, Zambia. To mark his centenary, on 23rd February 2021, Agness and Lawrence Yombwe of Wayiwayi Art Studios & Gallery, Livingstone, will host an event that marks and maps this anniversary and relates it to creative initiatives in contemporary Livingstone.
Please join us for an hour-long live zoom event entitled 'African Incidentalism: The Context is Half the Work’ featuring contributions from artists based in Livingstone and in the UK, and from John Latham's family.
Contributors include:
Agness Yombwe, mixed-media artist, Zambia; Noa Latham, son of John Latham and Professor at University of Calgary, Department of Philosophy; Harriet Latham, artist and granddaughter of John Latham; John-Paul Latham, son of John Latham and Reader in Geomechanics at Imperial College London; Serah Chibombwe, artist in residence, Wayi Wayi Studios; Sarah Andrews, artist and human rights lawyer with Avaaz; and Benjamin Mibenge, local environmentalist and artist, Zambia; Anne Bean, artist, UK.
Click here on Tuesday 23 February at 4pm (UK time) to join the live zoom event
Image: Stuart Whipps, A postcard of Victoria Falls leaning against a geological sample from John Latham's mantlepiece, C-Print, 31.25cm x 25cm, 2013
In 1975 John Latham coined the phrase 'Incidental Person', an artist who engages in wider contexts such as industry, politics and education and is "a resource and an instrument of change ... for future societies everywhere."
Several years ago, the artist Anne Bean, also born in Livingstone, decided she would travel to spend several weeks in the town and be there on this 100th anniversary. Her quest was simply to be in the town with the notion of the 'incidental person' as a catalyst to ignite ideas. Through a series of connections, Anne met the artist Agness Yombwe and discussed the many expansive ways that artists can engage with society.
In a radical artistic response to the devastating pandemic that had created crushing economic circumstances, threatening the livelihood of entire families in Livingstone, Agness approached the Senior Chief Mukuni of the Toka Leya people to ask for land, which the Royal Establishment gave her to activate the 'Creatives Village', an innovative project that integrates artist initiatives with the planting of crops and trees, training opportunities and employment.
To mark this anniversary Agness Yombwe and Benjamin Mibenge, will plant two trees in the Creatives Village with the names of Anne Bean and John Latham.
Wayi Wayi is a family run artist studio and gallery specializing in Zambian art, crafts, design and community engagement. Wayi Wayi showcases historic mbusa cultural traditions, offers classes by appointment for people of all ages, apprenticeship and residency opportunities for emerging and established artists locally and internationally with an emphasis in women and youth empowerment programming through skills-training in the visual arts.
https://www.wayiwayiart.org/
Plot No. 2613/392 Kalukuluku St, Off Airport Rd, Livingstone, Zambia
For more information on this special event please visit the Wayiwayi Art Studios & Gallery facebook page.
Programme
1) Introduction by Andrew Mulenga , Art Historian, Lecturer in the Zambian Open University Fine art Department and PhD candidate, Rhodes University, South Africa
2) Presentation by Agness Yombwe about the Creatives Village
3) Reminiscence by Noa Latham, son of John Latham and Professor at University of Calgary, Department of Philosophy
4) Presentation by Harriet Latham, artist and granddaughter of John Latham
5) Livingstone Connections by John-Paul Latham, son of John Latham and Reader in Geomechanics at Imperial College London
6) Performance by Serah Chibombwe, artist in residence, Wayi Wayi Studios Serah Chibombwe is mentored by Anne Bean, Anawana Haloba, Agness and Lawrence Yombwe
7) Introduction and short film Falling in Love with a Chair by Anne Bean
8) Meeting Incidentalism, a talk by Sarah Andrews, artist and human rights lawyer with Avaaz
9) Comments by Benjamin Mibenge, local environmentalist and artist
Planting a bio fence along the Creatives Villages land boundary to protect crops from cattle, goats and elephants, Livingstone, Zambia, August, 2020