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Mark of Cane
Kat Anderson
Friday 9th February 2024 – Sunday 21st April 2024 , 10:00am to 4:00pm
Mark of Cane explores the impact of sugar on the African-Caribbean Diaspora, confronting the haunting legacies of the Industrial Revolution and the Transatlantic Slave trade.
Bow Arts is delighted to present a solo exhibition by Kat Anderson, winner of the inaugural East London Art Prize. Anderson premieres ‘Las, Fiya’ (‘Last, Fire’), a fictional short film which uses the genre of Horror to explore the subjects of ancestral trauma, dispossession and the power in the return/retrieval. The exhibition is an immersive, audio-visual experience, centred around the new single-channel, fictional short film, and accompanied by new paperworks.
Shot largely on an existing sugarcane farm in Jamaica, the film weaves historical methods of harvesting sugarcane and sugar production with the cinematic concept of the ‘Origin Story’. The accompanying series of paperworks have been hand-made from the extracted by-products of sugarcane, produced as part of Anderson’s residency at UCL East, where a special cane crusher and boiler furnace will be used to extract materials for the paper-making process.
In line with the larger project ‘Episodes of Horror’, Mark of Cane questions the emancipatory potential of creativity, reclamation and listening to history. Sugarcane becomes a vessel, both narratively and materially, for an imaginative and impactful examination of colonial histories. The work invites conversations around the forced and coerced movements of Black African-Caribbean people, from slavery through to the Windrush generation and its subsequent scandal.
The playtime for ‘Las, Fiya’ is 25 mins and 6 seconds. The film will screen in the gallery every half hour from 10am.
Kat Anderson was the winner of the inaugural East London Art Prize in 2023. The winner of the prize presents the winner’s solo exhibition the following year. More on the East London Art Prize.
Anderson’s film has been supported by funds from Arts Council England and produced with support from Spike Island, Bristol.
About Kat Anderson
Kat Anderson is an award-winning visual artist, musician and filmmaker, currently working under the artistic and research framework ‘Episodes of Horror’, which uses the genre of horror to discuss representations of mental illness and trauma as experienced by or projected upon Black bodies in media.
Please click here to see Kat Anderson’s portfolio of art works.
About the East London Art Prize
The East London Art Prize celebrates and promotes the incredible talent and diversity of art made in the cultural hive of east London. Proudly sponsored by Minerva and Prue MacLeod, the winner receives a cash prize of £15,000 and a solo exhibition at our Nunnery Gallery. The runner-up second prize is a year’s studio space with Bow Arts.
More than just a competition, the Prize is supported by organisations and institutions working within its catchment boroughs, including the British Council, Dulux, The Line, London College of Fashion, London Legacy Development Corporation, University College London, V&A East and Whitechapel Gallery. This creates a network that enables the Prize to uniquely support and open up opportunities for artists through an associated events programme, highlighting new connections, and providing resources.
This inaugural year’s judges are Larry Achiampong (artist), Louisa Buck (art critic), Ellie Pennick (Director & Founder, Guts Gallery) and Megan Piper (Director & Co-Founder, The Line).
Access information
The Nunnery Gallery and Cafe have step-free access throughout from street level, including to the accessible toilet, and is service animal friendly. This venue does not have a hearing loop system.
Accessible parking is not available on-site but blue badge parking can be found 500m away on Fairfield Road.
If you have any questions regarding accessibility at this venue or event, would like to make us aware of any access requirements that you have in advance of visiting, or would like this information in an alternate format including Easy Read, please email nunnery@bowarts.com or call 020 8980 7774 (Ext. 3)
Access requirements could include things like providing equipment, services or support (e.g. information in Easy Read, speech to text software, additional 1:1 support), adjusting workshop timings (e.g. more break times), adjustments to the event space (e.g. making sure you have a table near the entrance) or anything else you can think of!
Transport Information
Opening hours: Tues-Sun, 10am to 4pm Address: Nunnery Gallery, 181 Bow Road, London, E3 2SJ Nearest station(s): Bow Road (District and Hammersmith and City lines) is a 6-minute walk away, and Bow Church (DLR) is a 3-minute walk away. Bus: 205, 25, 425, A8, D8, 108, 276, 488 and 8 all service the surrounding area. Bike: Bicycle parking is located at Bow Church Station. The nearest Santander Cycles docking station is at Bow Church Station.