Asian Express Newspaper - Bridging Landscapes: A Group Show Curated By

Aisha Zia

French Riviera is pleased to announce Bridging Landscapes an exhibition by guest curator Aisha Zia. For her group show at the gallery, Zia presents new mixed media work by British Artists from the South Asian diaspora.

“Bridging Landscapes is about our shifting cultural identities, shaped by our geographic locations looking at the borders we carry within us. Who we are and how we fit in, what we remember to be true to ourselves and how we are shaped by our past, helps us accept connectedness to the present and re-imagine a positive future. I am here now. And that is all. – This is a selection of work that shows us how we can heal and make sense of the world we live in now, and finally, to acknowledge our place in it, so we can move forward together, without division”.

Aisha Zia is an award-winning playwright and photo editor as well as a curator based in London. In 2019 Aisha set up an independent art space in Peterborough, in her father’s old Bollywood video shop. 62 is a social platform showcasing the work of British South Asian artists, activists, and writers from Muslim and non-Muslim backgrounds. The project aims to combat the marginalization of BME talent by broadening the online creative space to be more inclusive of diasporic arts, from Peterborough where 62 was born and across the UK.

Accompanying workshops will run alongside the exhibition at The Rich Mix and will include Muslim Girls Fence, DJing, poetry, photography, and a spoken word event by collective Off the Chest from 4^th – 6^th August. This will give the audience an opportunity to engage directly with artists. The workshops will be free for 16-24yrs who are residents of Tower Hamlets.

Artists Jennifer Lewandowski and Samuel Levack opened French Riviera in Bethnal Green, in 2011, as an extension of their longstanding artistic collaboration. The gallery has provided a vital exhibition platform for over 150 international emerging artists, alongside a public programme of dinners, performances, and talks, celebrating the diverse creative communities of London’s East End.