Jaffar Aly

Jaffar Aly has built up a body of work that echoes the diasporic nature of his upbringing in the UK. The Zanzibar born artist continues to dispute the heteronormative, Eurocentric, colonial normality, and its multiplicities within the education system he is placed in and is determinedly paving the way along his own artistic path. Jaffar’s creative ethos sees him continue to build on the anthropological foundations of his work. Throughout his various collections, we experience an explorative study of the human life and its progression, showcasing compassion for the human form as well as a prominent contemplation of the current socio-political climate. Instagram: @thatspaghettibrand

Where would you like your work to take you?

Currently building a body of work that demonstrates my practice of disrupting "white spaces" whilst contributing to a de-colonial or better yet producing a knowledge production that runs parallel to academia. Highlighting that embodied and lived experiences are too forms of knowledge production that is as valuable or better more valuable than that of the "neutral" space and production of academia.

What do you look for when creating an image?

Mainly the human form and the story it can tell through photography, storytelling, and painting. The emotions the human body is capable of telling in snapshots of its existence.

Where do you draw inspiration from?

Mainly the lived experiences of myself and others around me. And of course music!

Can you list a couple other creatives/friends/people you look to for inspiration?

All my friends! But mainly my partner and the collective I'm in called ANTI-NET.