Intsallation view
INDEPENDENCE
27 Jun - 4 Jul
This exhibition emerges from a series of conversations between Débora Delmar, Ilê Sartuzi and Gabriela Román González, examining different understandings of what independence means and the legal infrastructures that inform it.
Across the walls, a timeline traces key moments in the history of British immigration legislation since 1948, introducing some of the legal frameworks that have organised movement, settlement and belonging in Britain. None of the participants were born in the United Kingdom, yet all three live and work within the legal and institutional conditions shaped by this history, making the legislation a framework through which the exhibition itself can be read.
At the centre of the space, three contracts written and signed by the participants are suspended from a circular structure. Rather than functioning as fixed agreements, they explore and challenge what independence requires, how it is negotiated, and what it means within the context of cultural production. Between competing priorities, delegated responsibilities, permissions and obligations, each contract reflects a different understanding of how autonomy is claimed and exercised.
Presented in Brixton, where questions around who gets to remain and what forms of independence celebrated through cultural preservation continue to be contested, the exhibition situates these structures within an ongoing local reality.
Finally, a coincidence difficult to ignore is that the exhibition finishes on 4 July, the 250th anniversary of when a nation of immigrants took action to claim their own independence from Great Britain. All of the participants are of Latin American and Caribbean extraction. Whether this should be read as irony, accident or additional context is left open to interpretation in light of today's geopolitical landscape.
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This exhibition is presented by CASA in collaboration with Not The Owners and Brixton House, and is part of Systems in Question, the Jun/Jul chapter of Lines of Flight, CASA’s multi-arts programme 2025-2026.
Installation view
Installation view
Installation view
INDEPENDENCE AGREEMENT, 2026
Brief III: A timeline presenting key developments in British immigration legislation since 1948, corresponding with the arrival of the Empire Windrush and the beginning of significant post-war migration to Britain, shall be installed across wall panels 2, 3, 5, and 6 as a continuous line of text. Produced in light grey vinyl and set in Helvetica Neue, a typeface commonly employed within British governmental and administrative communications, the legislative instruments referenced therein shall be retained within the Exhibition archive. Part of INDEPENDENCE AGREEMENT
Brief III: A timeline presenting key developments in British immigration legislation since 1948, corresponding with the arrival of the Empire Windrush and the beginning of significant post-war migration to Britain, shall be installed across wall panels 2, 3, 5, and 6 as a continuous line of text. Produced in light grey vinyl and set in Helvetica Neue, a typeface commonly employed within British governmental and administrative communications, the legislative instruments referenced therein shall be retained within the Exhibition archive. Part of INDEPENDENCE AGREEMENT
Brief VII: Artist 1 (Débora Delmar) and the Curator shall each acquire one imported good from Brixton Market on their way to the opening of the Exhibition. These shall be placed within the Exhibition space for the duration of the opening event. (Six Chiquita bananas and three chayotes) Part of INDEPENDENCE AGREEMENT
Curator
Brief IV: From 27 June 2026 until 4 July 2026, each Party shall wear a wristwatch set to the local time of
another Party’s nation.
Artist 1 shall use Cuba time.
Artist 2 shall use Mexico time.
The Curator shall use Brazil time.
Brief V: From 27 June 2026 until 4 July 2026, each Party shall transmit a daily message stating “CLOCK
IN” to the other Parties. All messages shall be retained within the Exhibition archive.
Artist 1
Brief IV: From 27 June 2026 until 4 July 2026, each Party shall wear a wristwatch set to the local time of
another Party’s nation.
Artist 1 shall use Cuba time.
Artist 2 shall use Mexico time.
The Curator shall use Brazil time.
Brief V: From 27 June 2026 until 4 July 2026, each Party shall transmit a daily message stating “CLOCK
IN” to the other Parties. All messages shall be retained within the Exhibition archive.
Artist 2
Brief IV: From 27 June 2026 until 4 July 2026, each Party shall wear a wristwatch set to the local time of
another Party’s nation.
Artist 1 shall use Cuba time.
Artist 2 shall use Mexico time.
The Curator shall use Brazil time.
Brief V: From 27 June 2026 until 4 July 2026, each Party shall transmit a daily message stating “CLOCK
IN” to the other Parties. All messages shall be retained within the Exhibition archive.