Our Whitworth gallery are really pleased to share the zine Other Utopia, An Exploration of the Black Experience written, created and produced by the Whitworth Young Contemporaries (WYC).

WYC is a group of young people who met weekly at the gallery (and now online) to connect art, ideas and communities. Earlier this year, WYC curated an exhibition at the Whitworth that explored the theme of Utopia. Working with our WYC artists in residence and curator Leanne Green the young people spent many months creating a narrative for the exhibition and selecting artwork that told their story. They created a space that used the Whitworth’s collection to start a conversation on what utopian-thinking looks like for young people today.

Unfortunately, the group’s plans to activate the space through programming could not happen due to lockdown but the work moved online and the conversations continued. Then the Black Lives Matter Movement happened and the group further developed thoughts that they had first had whilst curating the show; that there wasn’t much diversity in the Whitworth’s collection and the story of Utopia they were telling was from a very white perspective.

Inspired by BLM, a WYC sub-team broke away as they wanted to do more to counter this singular narrative. They met weekly on zoom to discuss BLM and the role of places like the Whitworth to change things.

This zine is formed of the conversations they have had and the artworks that they have made in response to Black Lives Matter with contributions from friends. They have included artwork by black artists that inspire them and a reading list at the end so you can find out more.

“The zine was a collaboration between myself and other young creatives, about how we could create something that educated and informed people on what it’s like to be a person of ethnic minority in Britain. This has been an important and passionate project for me, as it reminded me of how art can be used as a tool to start a dialogue between people that words cannot. The one thing I hope to achieve with this is zine, are one that people enjoy it and two to keep learn and holding people accountable even if no one’s watching.” Abdimalig Ibrahim (WYC team member).

WYC sub-team: Maria Rabnawaz, Savanna Goldman, Roisin McAuliffe and Abdimalig Ibrahim

To find out more you can:

Download the Other Utopia ZINE.

Read the Other Utopia blog post

Find out more about the work of the Civic Engagement and Education team at the Whitworth by following the Gathering Of Strangers blog.

Find out more the Whitworth Young Contemporaries information and events.