Virginia Agyeiwah Nimarkoh (born January 1967)[1] is a British artist and activist, based in London.[2] Nimarkoh was born in London, and studied at Goldsmiths College London from 1986 to 1989,[2] graduating with a PhD in Fine Art (Theory & Practice).[3] Her practice combines mostly photographic and curatorial projects. She also works in community development and environmental regeneration initiatives across London. She currently works mainly with food, running a raw food business[4] and food insecurity social enterprise in London.[5]
Work
Nimarkoh is interested in how we deal with identity in relation to personal history; the methods by which we record our lives, how we choose to edit our past, and in the disparity that often exists between reality, memory and the images we own of this past.[6]
In 1993, Nimarkoh produced The Phone Box: Art in Telephone Boxes (London: Virginia Nimarkoh/Bookworks, 1993), an edition of 300 with original artists works as well as Postcard, an artist's book consisting of 144 colour postcards forming one composite image, (London: BookWorks, 1993).
Her photographic series Urban Utopias (2005–ongoing) is concerned with spaces in South East London, depicting allotments, city farms and parks.[7][8]
In 2008, Nimarkoh curated the research project Edge of a Dream: Utopia, Landscape & Contemporary Photography, which explored utopian depictions of landscape within recent art photography in the context of global capitalism, funded by the Arts & Humanities Research Council, with support from Camberwell College of Arts, Goldsmiths University of London and Hand Eye Projects. The international selection of artists included Simryn Gill (AUS), Mandy Lee Jandrell (SA/UK), Virginia Nimarkoh (UK) and David Spero (UK). The research project commissioned new writing by Anthony Iles (Mute magazine), Kate Soper (London Metropolitan University), John Wood (Goldsmiths), and a preface by Paul Halliday (Goldsmiths). The book Edge of a Dream was published in 2011 by Affram Books.
In 2019, Nimarkoh collaborated with Fan Sissoko on the short film We The People, in partnership with the Advocacy Academy, the UK's first youth activist campus, based in Brixton. The original soundtrack is by Dubmorphology. The project was commissioned by Museum of London.
David Bate, Francois Leperlier, Mise-en-Scene: Claude Cahun, Tacita Dean, Virginia Nimarkoh, ICA London, 1994.[16]
The Holy Bible: Old Testament, an artist book by David Hammons, co-produced by Virginia Nimarkoh and Richard Hylton, 2002.[17][18]
Edge of a Dream: Utopia, Landscape + Contemporary Photography, Simryn Gill, Mandylee Jandrell, David Spero, Paul Halliday, Virginia Nimarkoh, John Wood, Anthony Iles and Kate Soper, Affram Books 2010.[19]
^Anderson, Emma (January–February 1992). "Four from Four x 4". Women's Art Magazine. No. 44. pp. 12–13.
^Deepwell, Katy (January–February 1995). "Uncanny Resemblances: the Restaging of the mise en scene". Women's Art Magazine. No. 62. pp. 17–19.
^Irvine, Jaki (Spring 1995). "Mise en Scene". Third Text. No. 30. pp. 101–106.
^Sladen, Mark (September 1995). "Care and Control". Art Monthly. No. 189. pp. 13–15.
^Keen, Melanie; Ward, Elizabeth (1996). Recordings: A Select Bibliography of Contemporary African, Afro-Caribbean and Asian British Art. London: Institute of International Visual Arts and Chelsea College of Art and Design. ISBN1899846-06-9.
^David Bate; François Leperlier (1994). Mise en scène: Claude Cahun, Tacita Dean, Virginia Nimarkoh. London: Institute of Contemporary Arts. ISBN0-905263-59-6. OCLC32294691.
