don’t worry i won’t forget you at FormaHQ, London

Forma are proud to announce don’t worry i won’t forget you, an interactive library, exhibition and public programme guest curated by Êvar Hussayni and Sarah Hamed, that will open at FormaHQ on 13 June 2024.

Reimagining how archives are built, activated and used, don’t worry i won’t forget you presents the entire physical archive of the West Asian and North African Women’s Art Library (WANAWAL) for the first time since it’s inception. Books, tapes, magazines, research and various ephemera are displayed to create an intimate and welcoming setting that encourages visitors to engage directly with the material. By rejecting traditional and hierarchical approaches, this alternative environment explores how experimental archival methods can facilitate inclusive, generative experiences. Here visitors are invited to thoroughly explore the archive, delve into the wealth of stories and histories it preserves, seek parts of their own narrative or find joy in discovering others.

WANWAWAL was founded in 2019 by artist and archivist Êvar Hussayni to reject the colonial methodologies often embedded in how archives are formed and accessed, by building a publicly accessible library and archive that innovatively catalogues and preserves the creative contributions by practitioners from West Asia and North Africa (WANA).

Embracing the liberatory power that can be found in collective memory-making and sharing outside of colonial practices, the curators have invited artistic interventions from seven contemporary WANA practitioners, including two new commissions. Interspersed throughout the exhibition these works provide a mutual lens to the archive, each contextualising and informing the other.

To find out more please go to the direct link.