Left: Moroti Soji George, photo credit: Arlo Havixbeck; Right: Ogheneofegor Obuwoma, photo credit: Onosholema Ikhwolegbe.
The Bernard Reading Circle with Ogheneofegor Obuwoma and Moroti Soji-George
Thursday, November 24 / 12 – 1:30pm
Audain Gallery
149 West Hastings Street
Come read with us! Please join for a lunch-time discussion of “I am Black,” by Thomas F. DeFrantz, and “I AM ALWAYS IN THIS BODY” by Seika Boye and Justine A. Chambers, selected and led by SFU alumni, filmmaker Ogheneofegor Obuwoma and curator Moroti Soji-George from our current Bernard Reader.
The Bernard Reader contains text excerpts and print ephemera pertinent to exhibition and engagement programs at SFU Galleries. The purpose of the Reader, which was inspired by a renegade bookseller who sold books in SFU's Academic Quadrangle during the 70s, is to share critical dialogue and stimulate conversation. Distributed for educational purposes, it will be available to participants of The Bernard Reading Circle, an open platform for discourse.
*Printed by Publication Studio Vancouver/66B
Registration is required; brown bag lunch encouraged. For registration and to receive a printed copy of the Bernard Reader in advance, contact: sfugalleries@sfu.ca
Ogheneofegor Obuwoma (she/her) is a Nigerian filmmaker, writer, artist, and storyteller with a BFA in Film Studies and Communications from Simon Fraser University. Her work explores "the personal" in relationship to her larger community and the cultural experience of being Nigerian. She is interested in African futurism and the ways we access the spirit.
Olumoroti (Moroti) Soji-George (he/they) is a curator, film theorist, writer, and educator based in Vancouver. Soji-George is currently an MA candidate at SFU's School for the Contemporary Arts, studying contemporary art. Soji-George is also the Curator at the Black Arts Centre in Surrey, BC, and the Programming Coordinator at Gallery Gachet. Soji-George’s curatorial practice revolves around unravelling the nuances regarding the multifaceted ways Blackness is embodied in the arts and conceptualizing the way Black contemporary artists present a post-modern perspective on the state of Blackness in the current world through their artworks. Soji-George’s research and curatorial practice also involve envisioning accessible and community-centred art spaces, highlighting the stories of individuals in communities who create new monumental environments by challenging the western status quo and state of being. Soji-George believes in using space to reflect the agency and lived experiences of individuals whose embodiments are not typically valued, respected and represented in the traditional art and academic setting.