We warmly welcome you to the opening of Rooted Through Realms, a solo exhibition by artist-curator Shaheen Kasmani, featuring a new body of work that explores land justice, inspired by the gardens of paradise.
This Digbeth First Friday launch event will include a DJ set by the wonderful Fatuma Khaireh, as well as mehndi stalls and food.
About the exhibition
Rooted Through Realms calls upon us to bear witness and connect the dots between ongoing settler colonialism, climate change, and local and global injustices, whilst also encouraging us to employ our senses and otherworldly faculties to collectively imagine new possibilities as inspired by the gardens of paradise.
This exhibition was conceived by Shaheen Kasmani and co-curated by Aaisha Akhtar. In developing this exhibition together, Shaheen and Aaisha have been in conversation since 2023. In 2024, Shaheen undertook a residency with Ort Gallery to focus on her artistic research and development, allowing her to create this new body of work. Together, they explored themes of divine justice, mercy, and life-affirming ways of seeing in relation to this earthly plane.
Rooted Through Realms was made possible with support from Arts Council England. Shaheen’s residency and Or
‘White Lines’ is exhibiting for Digbeth First Friday June ‘26 til late.. exhibition continues to June 16th. ‘White Lines’ is the whiteness timeline by artist and long-term friend of Friction Simon Walker. Several years in the making, it’s a five-metre timeline of the development of the idea of whiteness, and its effects on the world. It’s a compelling and fascinating demonstration of the pernicious effects of racism in society. We’ve been honoured to be involved in the work’s development over the last few years, and it never failed to leave us changed, every time we got to see it during its growth. It’s also an amazing jumping off point for all kinds of discussion around race politics and the way the concept of race has been embedded into our societies. This is the timeline’s first major public outing, and we invite you to experience it.
White Lines will be exhibited in the first-floor studio space until June 16th.
Viewing from June 6th -June 16th by appointment, contact claire@frictionarts.com to book.
Friction’s 1st Friday ‘back’ at ‘Neo-Edge’. We’re proud to present ‘White Lines’ by Simon Walker, our first major exhibition since re-opening ‘The Edge’. We are also pleased to welcome back ‘Silver Dollar’ – vinyl only: Ska, rocksteady, roots and rub-a-dub sounds with guest selectas.. 8pm til late..
The Edge has been on a rollercoaster of a capital build with vital changes, over the last two years.. we’ve been unfurling slowly with a range of events and guests. Come over and explore the space; find out more about our forthcoming D.I.Y. programme led by and for artists, see the exhibition ‘White Lines’, grab a beer, skank til the wee hours to ‘Silver Dollar’. Welcome back… welcome home..
The Pasts, Presents and Futures exhibition features a dynamic range of artworks from films to illustrations, photography to emerging technologies. Pasts delves into the relationship between then and now through documentary, illustration, film and photography. Presents examines the media, popular culture, and artist’ experience to explore the way we interact with the world. Futures showcases a range of emerging technologies to demonstrate its potential uses and to question whether it should be considered as a valid form of art.
Pasts, Presents and Futures is the first event of the IMA Festival, with a second exhibition, artist talks, two film festivals and a networking event yet to come.