dirty nails (les ongles noirs) is a sticky experimental thing happening between Dakar, Senegal and Birmingham, UK. This is an invitation to: play, grieve, hum; throw soil on white walls; dance, pray, touch and be moved by the unknown.

Stewards of the land (visitors, clay, little ones, microscopic insects, artists, soil, ancestors…) compose a space of transmutation, where spirit is summoned through sonic, embodied, and imagined yearnings. As we re-invest in the present with what we have how do we form alternative ways to call in freedom?

The exhibition in Birmingham is emerging through rehearsals of non-verbal incantations, re-enactments of degenerative rituals, and gatherings and is infused by an intoxicating ‘i don’t know’ which punctuates the ana-choreography of the ever unfolding experiment.

A chain of invitations led us to invite you …

It started with Eastside Projects inviting melissandre varin who in turn invited artistic crushes:

– Maria Muehombo aka M I M I, offering sonic vibrations

– Sym Mendez aka Sym Stellium, offering spiritual care coordination and performance arts

– Ban Workshop, offering hospitality in Dakar, performance instructions, and ceramics

– Jade Blackstock, offering performance arts

– Carmen Wong, offering food ceremonies

– Ayesha Jones, offering still and moving images

– Bronwyn Katz, offering moving images

– Bousebik (6yrs) and Eole (5yrs), offering instructions on how to throw soil against white walls

– Chandos Primary School, offering destruction skills

– Manoj Yoga, offering a special sound bath evening

– Wutangu, offering astrological guidance

– Jaz Morrison offering writing and reflection

– Geamhradhr/Winter, offering vocal rituals

– Ibrahima Ndome, offering responses in textile and clay

– Agnes Essonti Luque, offering film

– Karen Dhlamini, offering support and holding space

(June-July 2024)