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Self-titled (Table)

“In our globalised, post-colonial world, the struggles of people of colour have become intricate and multi-layered, their inherent paradox being the efforts to break free from social hierarchies that they need to participate in to be heard.
    In Real Life, people of colour have to face a society in the UK which is intrinsically racist, operating within systems and institutions that either totally disregard diversity and inclusivity, or take it at a surface level.
    In Real Life, architecture in the UK is not a diverse profession, with an estimated 6% of architects identifying as people of colour - around half of the proportion of the UK population.”

As part of the Architecture Fringe 2019, themed “In Real Life”, our exhibition is an invitation to sit by an everyday architectural object, the table - deconstructed and multiplied to reflect the young voices of some of architecture’s few people of colour. With a starting point in our own and fellow students’ experiences and opinions, the exhibition consists of discussions shared to the public through an audio piece. As you listen, you perch awkwardly on our stool; the table is precarious, its component parts skewed, cut and distorted - we play on Western ideals and hierarchies, and replace a dual power play between “us and them”, with a multitudinous net of relationships, reflecting the varied and complex identities of “the other”.
    The content of the exhibition was further elaborated on with an accompanying zine and live panel.