Andreas Mallouris, Elisabeth Efua Sutherland, Isaac Nana Opoku, Maria Luigia Gioffrè, Patrick Ziza, Paul Nataraj and Rafael Guendelman Hales in residence at D6: Culture in Transit
In July 2025, D6: Culture in Transit welcomed Contested Desires artists for a group residency and exhibition asking: what is the impact of colonial heritage today and whose stories do we hear?
Andreas Mallouris (Cyprus), Elisabeth Efua Sutherland (Ghana), Isaac Nana Opoku (Ghana), Maria Luigia Gioffrè (Italy), Patrick Ziza (UK), Paul Nataraj (UK) and Rafael Guendelman Hales (Chile), joined D6 in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in the UK.
The exhibition was presented at the Great North Museum: Hancock, surrounded by objects and collections that in many ways symbolised the very questions that the artists have been working with: exploring complex and interwoven themes of identity, appropriation, power and memory.
The community engagement programme nurtured relationships with audiences and expanded the exhibition’s themes. It included workshops, a conference at The Word, South Shields, exhibition tours with the general public, including individuals seeking sanctuary in the city, and heritage tours of Newcastle with the African Lives in Northern England Project.
Artist Elisabeth researched the archives at the Tyne Theatre and Opera House and with the North of England African & Caribbean Association to learn about African and Black histories and inform her artwork. Rafael conducted drawing workshops with asylum seeking and refugee children taking part in the Young Lives project at Action Foundation, and Paul met with Sangini, a black feminist organisation in South Tyneside, to share and capture stories to present in the exhibition.
The accompanying conference Let’s Talk about Decolonisation featured presentations from six artists; alongside Padma Rao and Kath Boodhai from Sangini; Malavika Anderson, Museum Manager at the Great North Museum: Hancock, and Dr Leona Vaughn from Liverpool University and Contested Desires External Evaluation Expert.
