Join City of Victoria Artist in Residence Kemi Craig for the Blackspace Library Pop-Up, featuring readings with local artists and a special reading of excerpts from stories which inspired Kemi’s latest collaboration with Hololabs, Afroquatics: A Call and Response Below the Surface.
Visit the Blackspace Library Pop-Up at 708 Douglas Street for scheduled readings on:
Thursday, March 21 from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. for Afroquatics readings
Friday, March 22 from 5-7 p.m. for a local artist reading
Saturday March 23 from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. for family-friendly readings
Initiated through programming with the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, the Blackspace Library Pop-Up is a network of mini-libraries located around the City of Victoria, housing a collection spanning art books, children’s books, graphic novels, science fiction and speculative narratives.
It is one of two Black libraries Kemi knows of in Canada, including the new Vancouver Black Library. Currently, three Black-owned businesses are hosting the Blackspace Library, including Liberté Barber, Who Dyd Your Hair and Stir It Up Caribbean Soul Food Cafe.
The Blackspace Library serves as a way to share books authored by and about artists of the African diaspora, Black visual culture and Black creative expression. Kemi’s hope is to empower and inspire communities through the knowledge of what Black communities create and the criticality of our futures.
Learn more on Instagram at @blackspacelibrary or email culture@victoria.ca.