FILM: HOLLY GRAHAM – #FRIDAYFACT
Holly Graham’s new video work #FridayFact, commissioned by Goldsmiths CCA, explores the histories and legacies of sugar and slavery. The film is part of a new cross-curricular resource for schools to support children and young people consider their identity and sense of the world around them, particularly in relation to themes of movement and migration, culinary culture, racism and the Black Lives Matter Movement.
#FridayFact is split into different sections focusing on the river and trade, historical story-telling, sugar, sweet treats, and more. The title is taken from a tweet release by the Treasury in 2018, which announced that living British citizens help to end the slave trade through taxes paid up until 2015. The tweet received criticism for its inaccuracy and insensitivity, particularly in relation to a celebratory tone that foregrounded abolition while neglecting to mention that this repayment was in the form of compensation to slave-owners. Graham’s film highlights the recent nature and ongoing present impact of these histories, while encouraging reflection on the risks of oversimplifying such narratives.
The film is part of a larger body of work Graham has been developing over the past few years called Sweet Swollen. The film uses archival imagery of sugar production, along-side contemporary footage shot on the artists’ iPhone, featuring locations along the river: Deptford Dock with a view of Canary Wharf, Woolwich with a view of Tate and Lyle Factory, and Rotherhithe.
BIOGRAPHY
Holly Graham is a London-based artist, working predominantly with print and audio. Much of her work looks at ways in which memory and narrative shape collective histories. Holly undertook her BFA at Oxford University in 2012 and graduated from MA Printmaking at the Royal College of Art in 2014. Recent exhibitions and projects include: While the Piled Cumuli Sail Galleon-Like Above – I, Barratt David Wilson Homes for Cane Hill Park, London (2020); To Us It Just Looks Like A Lemon: Bothy Residency, Southwark Park Galleries (2019); On Board II, Art Licks & Espacio Vista, Madrid (2019); BOUNDS, Skelf, Online (2019); The Oval Window, Gerald Moore Gallery, London (2019); The Romance of Flowers, Kingsgate Projects, London (2018); Common Third, Copperfield, London (2018); Carefully Cleansed of Labour and Softened by Cooking, Compressor, London (2018); and Sweet Swollen, Jerwood Visual Arts: Project Space, London (2018). Holly is Head of Artist Development at Turf Projects, Croydon, and is Co-Founder of Cypher BILLBOARD, London.
https://www.hollygraham.co.uk
Holly Graham’s new video work #FridayFact, commissioned by Goldsmiths CCA, explores the histories and legacies of sugar and slavery. The film is part of a new cross-curricular resource for schools to support children and young people consider their identity and sense of the world around them, particularly in relation to themes of movement and migration, culinary culture, racism and the Black Lives Matter Movement.
#FridayFact is split into different sections focusing on the river and trade, historical story-telling, sugar, sweet treats, and more. The title is taken from a tweet release by the Treasury in 2018, which announced that living British citizens help to end the slave trade through taxes paid up until 2015. The tweet received criticism for its inaccuracy and insensitivity, particularly in relation to a celebratory tone that foregrounded abolition while neglecting to mention that this repayment was in the form of compensation to slave-owners. Graham’s film highlights the recent nature and ongoing present impact of these histories, while encouraging reflection on the risks of oversimplifying such narratives.
The film is part of a larger body of work Graham has been developing over the past few years called Sweet Swollen. The film uses archival imagery of sugar production, along-side contemporary footage shot on the artists’ iPhone, featuring locations along the river: Deptford Dock with a view of Canary Wharf, Woolwich with a view of Tate and Lyle Factory, and Rotherhithe.
BIOGRAPHY
Holly Graham is a London-based artist, working predominantly with print and audio. Much of her work looks at ways in which memory and narrative shape collective histories. Holly undertook her BFA at Oxford University in 2012 and graduated from MA Printmaking at the Royal College of Art in 2014. Recent exhibitions and projects include: While the Piled Cumuli Sail Galleon-Like Above – I, Barratt David Wilson Homes for Cane Hill Park, London (2020); To Us It Just Looks Like A Lemon: Bothy Residency, Southwark Park Galleries (2019); On Board II, Art Licks & Espacio Vista, Madrid (2019); BOUNDS, Skelf, Online (2019); The Oval Window, Gerald Moore Gallery, London (2019); The Romance of Flowers, Kingsgate Projects, London (2018); Common Third, Copperfield, London (2018); Carefully Cleansed of Labour and Softened by Cooking, Compressor, London (2018); and Sweet Swollen, Jerwood Visual Arts: Project Space, London (2018). Holly is Head of Artist Development at Turf Projects, Croydon, and is Co-Founder of Cypher BILLBOARD, London.
https://www.hollygraham.co.uk
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