New Year Newsletter

January 2022

Hello! We’re back, emerging from our winter hibernation, and revelling in the gusty atmosphere of January!

We’re overjoyed that late amendments to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill were defeated in the House of Lords last week and express our gratitude to everyone defending our right to protest. In the spirit of coalition building we have plenty of in-person and online events to keep us all connected during the remaining wintertide.

In Person:

If you haven’t yet been to ONCA Gallery for A.MAL Collective’s exhibition IN, AMONG AND BETWEEN من الى عن على في you’re in luck because we’ve extended the installation until 28 January. It won ONCA’s Lost Species Day 2021 commission and explores the interconnectivity of colonialism and climate injustice by questioning current relationships between the Global North and Global South, specifically Morocco and the UK. So, dust away the cobwebs and relax on a beanbag whilst watching Leila Gamaz’s ‘The Animals, the Plant and the Stranger’ among many other immersive delights.

After A.MAL, we’re hosting Cuban-born, Brighton-based artist Olga Saavedra Montes de Oca’s installation The Family as a Space for Gender Transition, 4th–26th February. By reflecting on contemporary images of transgender individuals in relation to their family, the artist seeks to query a focus on gender transition as a contemporary, individual process, and to re-locate it in personal and family histories.

From April 4th to June 13th, ecotherapy facilitator Jane Glenizinska begins an in-person ten week course on the ONCA Barge. ‘Ten Steps Towards Personal Resilience and Empowerment in a Chaotic Climate’ is a Good Grief Network programme that aims to support collective processing of climate-chaos related emotions while building community connections.

Dresscue and community mornings continue on the ONCA Barge. You’re invited to our weekly drop-in make-and-mend sewing space for upcycling adventures with our community artist Sally Bourner on Fridays from 10am–1pm.

We still have some important COVID-19 safety measures in place at our venues. Read the full information here.

Online:

Exquisite photography exhibition PUMA by JP Miller is online until January 31st. If you’re interested in Wayra – an ONCA legend – and other pumas like her, or supporting the continued efforts of Comunidad Inti Wara Yassi (CIWY) in rehabilitating pumas, buy prints here – all proceeds go to CIWY. And if you buy a medium or large print, we will send you a free signed copy of ONCA founder Laura Coleman’s acclaimed memoir The Puma Years as well.

On February 2nd, we’re thrilled to host the launch of The Eco-Anxiety Africa Project (TEAP). Join Nigeria-based project founder Jennifer Uchendu in an online conversation with US-based author of A Field Guide To Climate Anxiety, Sarah Jaquette Ray, to discuss the climate change-related mental health issues facing communities in Nigeria and across the continent of Africa.

Our brilliant feminist friends in the Extracting Us Collective have just unveiled Despite Extractivism – a new online exhibition of works from artists and communities around the world at the front lines of extractivism – with an amazing events programme, check it out.

Join us for 2022’s first Culture Declares Emergency Southeast Coastal hub virtual meet-up on February 10, 10–11am. This is a chance to meet like minds, re-ignite environmental projects and commitments as individuals, organisations and as a community. We’ll be thinking ahead to Refugee Week and exploring shared priorities and intentions for the year.

Opportunities:

We’re delighted to announce the 2022 ONCA Barge artist residency programme supported by Enjoolata! Our first resident is Paccha Turner Chuji. Watch this space for future artist calls.

Get Involved:

Head to our YouTube channel now to catch up on ONCA’s Lost Species Day 2021 events! We hosted a brilliant conversation asking “how do grief, ritual and creativity serve the climate crisis?” and a panel discussion of eco-emotions through a Global Majority and youth climate justice lens, chaired by Jennifer Uchendu. You can support The Eco-Anxiety in Africa Project (TEAP) here.