A NEW short film commission Blurred Poem created by a Coventry-based spoken word poet and rapper will premiere online this Friday (December 18).
John Bernard, a finalist on BBC 1Xtra and Asian Network’s BBC Words First programme, is the first local artist to receive £700 for a digital micro-commission by The Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, Coventry.
His spoken word poetry film looks at the perception of people of colour and how this affects young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. It premieres on the Herbert’s YouTube channel and Facebook at 7pm on Friday. You can watch it via this link:
John said: “To be the first recipient of this funding is incredible. It is an absolute privilege to partner up with a place that has been instrumental in my growth as a creative; a place where I recorded my first piece of music. Pertaining to the piece I wanted to examine the lived experiences of people of colour in a way that was inspired by Wallace Stevens work whereby something can be viewed in multiple ways.
“Additionally, in most cases we tend to view people the way we are and not necessarily the way they are. I want to also acknowledge Fred Maganga (Videographer), Kudzai Zvomuya, Paneshe Malunga, Lethubuhle Mathema (instrumentalists) for bringing the piece to life.”
The Herbert has worked with Coventry arts organisation Maokwo – which supports marginalised communities, women, refugees, asylum seekers and migrant artists– to shape this micro-commissioning project.
This commission welcomes artists to respond to themes within the gallery’s recent critically-acclaimed Thirteen Ways of Looking exhibition, ranging from the lived experiences of people of colour to questions of where art belongs and digital spaces as sites for resistance and representation.
Ruark Jon-Stevens, of the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, said: “We spent the initial lockdown questioning what we could do to better support local communities and creatives.
“We had already joined the #StopHateforProfit campaign by freezing spend on social media and that made us question how we could instead utilise that money to provide paid opportunities for local creatives.
“We are delighted that the first artist to be part of this project is John Bernard and we are incredibly excited to share his work across our digital channels.
“Details on the next micro-commission opportunity will be shared via the Herbert’s website in the coming weeks.”
