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Reclaiming personal power: An intervention in the UCL Culture Lab
18 March 2024
A group of young curators called the Curating Power Collective have been exploring and embracing what makes them feel powerful through research and creative making.
What makes you feel powerful?
This was the question posed to the Curating Power Collective, a group of young people in London who have been developing and curating a series of creative, personal reflections in response to our UCL Culture Lab’s inaugural ‘Power!' exhibition.
They have intervened in the space, exploring, embracing and reclaiming what makes them feel powerful through research, objects, creative making, and writing.
Their work is now on display as part of the 'Power!' exhibition at the UCL Culture Lab, in the UCL East Marshgate building.
Meet the curators
The films below share the personal and creative journeys, motivations and experiences of some of our Curating Power curators.
Barakat Omomoyowa
Ysabel Hannam
"You can have individual power, but I think power is also something structurally that can be forced upon us. I wear these gold bangles, all of the women in my family do. [They are] a way for me to think about the people who have come before me and reach power through that".
Kimberly Johnson
"I don't want to feel as though, to be powerful, I have to be in control over every situation. I wanted to recreate... how writing in this book allowed me to delve into my imagination. This whole journey has been me learning how to take the pressure off myself when it comes to creating".
Paige Michel-Strachan
Matilda Bilon
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Explore the digital collection
The Collective has also curated a digital archive of their work, showcasing creative process, poetry readings, playlists, artworks, and digital zines. Explore the digital Curating Power collection.
A final word
"I got involved with the Curating Power Collective because I think institutions like UCL have a responsibility to tell the right stories. There's this new narrative about what power means...And I was really, really intrigued to be able to put on something in an institution so prominent like UCL that might change minds and incite new conversation" - Barakat Omomayowa, Curating Power curator
We welcome UCL staff, students and collaborators, and our local communities to view these works, and use the space to reflect on their own relationship with power and start new conversations.
Thank you to the Curating Power Collective: Kimberly Johnson, Ysabel Hannam, Arzama Hossain, Barakat Omomayowa, Shay Spencer-Noronha, Ashanté Thomas, Matilda Bilon, Paige Michel-Strachan and Emmanuella Bamfo, with support from Alafuro Sikoki-Coleman and Johanna Zetterstrom-Sharp.
About UCL Culture Lab
Located at Marshgate, UCL East, the Culture Lab builds on UCL’s long tradition of object-based learning and collections-based research. It’s a space for students, artists and community groups to work with collections and archives to creatively share with each other and the public what matters to them, and to support a new generation of curators. Find out more about the Culture Lab.