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Subira Joy. Photo credit: Jamie Boyt

The School of Media, Arts and Humanities is delighted to welcome Subira Joy as the 2024 Stuart Hall Fellow. As part of their Fellowship, Subira will perform at this year’s Brighton Festival on 22 May.

Subira Joy is a Black, trans, queer spoken-word performer, writer and activist, based in Sussex. An interdisciplinary theatre maker interested in the role of art in activism and social change, their work ranges from spoken word to performance art, dance, playwriting, drag and cabaret.

At the Festival, Subira will be joined by special guests for an evening rooted in histories of resistance, through a lens of creativity and performance. Their event, Radical Remembering, combines spoken word, discussions, writing and more. It is part of the Festival of Ideas, which is a collaboration between the School of Media, Arts and Humanities and the Brighton Festival that harnesses the transformative power of the arts and humanities to fashion new ways of thinking about the past, present and future.

Professor Liz James, Dean of the School of Media, Arts and Humanities, said:

“The University of Sussex is delighted to support the work of the Stuart Hall Foundation and its talented fellows. In the School of Media, Arts and Humanities we are hugely excited that Subira Joy’s event, Radical Remembering, is part of the Festival of Ideas. Subira’s work inspires and challenges us around questions of how and why we hold our histories. Their exploration of queer and Black activism, archival research and radical lineages aligns perfectly with the Foundation's commitment to public education and addressing the urgent questions of race and inequality in culture and society.”

Professor Nasar Meer, Chair of the Stuart Hall Foundation’s Academic Committee, Professor Roshini Kempadoo, and Dr Ruth Ramsden-Karelse said:

“We look forward to welcoming Subira Joy to the Stuart Hall Foundation’s network of Scholars, Fellows and Artists. Subira’s interdisciplinary work on police violence towards Black and queer and trans people, focusing on erased, overlooked, and internalised histories, is pertinent and important. Subira's creative projects foster a collaborative, generous, and socially engaged culture of learning and communication – something that Stuart Hall championed throughout his career.”

The Stuart Hall Fellowship is a partnership between the Stuart Hall Foundation and the School of Media, Arts and Humanities. The Foundation is committed to promoting cultural diversity and understanding through the arts. Each year as part of its pledge to support new artists, the Fellowship is awarded to a local artist to help develop their skills and gain valuable experience to work with academics in their chosen field.

Past Stuart Hall Fellows at the University of Sussex include multi-disciplinary creative and activist Erin James; multi-media artist, activist and curator Susuana Amoah; photographer and Turner prize nominee Ingrid Pollard; and investigative journalist Rebecca Omonira-Oyekanmi.

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