In Solidarity With
Black Lives Matter
STATEMENT
13 Jun 2020
Obsidian Coast is a small independent art space. We stand in solidarity with Black communities in the UK and around the world, and we are committed to the ongoing fight against white supremacy and other intersecting systems of oppression, including patriarchy, cissexism, ableism and economic inequality.
Obsidian Coast is our home and is intended as a life-affirming space that we can share with others. We are continuously developing our understanding of the complexity of myriad subject positions, social dynamics, political struggles and histories, and our own position within them. We commit to listening and educating ourselves in the process of long-term (un/re)learning in order to become better equipped to critically address and undo the violent culture of whiteness.
We commit to developing our programme in ways that allow for this critical work to be done with care in generous, supportive and meaningful collaborations with others.
We commit to paying all of our collaborators fairly and equally.
We commit to maintaining Obsidian Coast as a safe space for all our collaborators and everyone who visits us.
We commit to only working with partners who are dedicated to anti-racist work.
We are in the process of initiating a long-term collective research project to devise a code of practice for feminist, anti-racist and anticolonial arts organising as a publicly shared resource.
Living and working in the predominantly white rural South West, we urge our local community and other organisations — especially our neighbours in the region — to also participate in the essential long-term work to collectively dismantle white supremacy.
In solidarity,
Nella and Sam
Obsidian Coast
