Mother Tongue & Craig Mulholland

The novelist Samuel Delany was born in 1942 and raised in Harlem, New York. His output - encompassing science fiction, fantasy, autobiography, creative non-fiction, erotic literature and literary criticism – has led him to be considered as a seminal influence on the conceptualisation of Afrofuturism, whilst also making significant contributions to science fiction through his incorporation of LGBT themes. Collaboratively undertaking the Creative Lab Residency, artist Craig Mulholland and curatorial project Mother Tongue have independently arrived at an interest in the work of Delany, albeit from different avenues of enquiry. Mulholland’s work in performance, video, installation and sculpture has examined issues surrounding posthumanism, queer theory, futurism and cyborgism, now leading into Afrofuturism and consumer culture via the sex industry. Mother Tongue recently curated the two-part artist film and video programme Afrofuturism: Revisions Towards A Place in Modernity, as the result of ongoing research into issues of migration, Diaspora and the Black Atlantic.

The cross-overs between these avenues – in theory, aesthetics and music – are the initial point of departure for the residency’s process of exchange and investigation. Crossing the distinctions between our artistic and curatorial practices, this Creative Lab is a neutral meeting ground in which to develop ideas and invite others into the conversation as it advances. A public presentation will be made towards the culmination of the residency.