Focus brings together the work of Valerie Asiimwe Amani , Jermaine Francis, and Sunil Shah to explore interconnected themes of identity, culture, and history. Their diverse practices intertwine to create a rich dialogue, reflecting on personal and collective experiences through a contemporary lens.
Focus was a project that unites the work of diverse artists to foster dialogue and showcase a wide range of perspectives. The three artists—Valerie Asiimwe Amani, Jermaine Francis, and Sunil Shah— exhibited their work during the inaugural DEPOT event.
Focus sits within the context of DEPOT, a pioneering new three-day art event in Oxford. The event brings together artist-led commercial galleries, individual artists, and the non-profit arts charity Fusion Arts for a unique collaborative experience that introduces new voices from the contemporary art world to the city. The 2024 edition features nine national galleries selected by invitation, along with solo presentations by international contemporary artists.
About the Artists
Valerie Asiimwe Amani
Valerie Asiimwe Amani is a Tanzanian interdisciplinary artist and writer whose work explores how body, language, and myth shape the self within and apart from community. Her art navigates the intersections of the political, domestic, and intimate, bridging these themes across various mediums.
Amani has exhibited internationally in cities like Lagos, New York, Paris, Cape Town, and Leipzig, with solo presentations in London and Dar es Salaam. Notable recent shows include In My Dream We Spoke Another Language at Forster Gallery Zanzibar, the performance Bahari Chumvi at ICA London, and Boundary Encounters at Modern Art Oxford.
Currently pursuing a PhD at The Ruskin School of Art, Oxford University, Amani has received prestigious accolades such as the 2023 Foundwork Art Prize, 2022 Ingram Prize, and 2021 Ashmolean Museum Vivien Leigh Prize. Her work has been featured in Art Monthly, Hyperallergic, and Texte Zur Kunst.
Jermaine Francis
Jermaine Francis is a London-based artist working with photography and moving images, exploring themes of politics, culture, power, race, and class. His work has been exhibited at major venues including the International Centre of Photography (New York), National Portrait Gallery (London), Saatchi Gallery, and Dulwich Picture Gallery.
Jermaine has contributed to monographs such as The Art of Protest and ICP Concerned, and published three books, including Something That Seems So Familiar Becomes Distant and Rhythms from the Metroplex. His editorial work has appeared in I-D Magazine, The Face, and FT Weekend Magazine.
In 2023, he co-curated Notes on a Native Son, After Baldwin for Peckham 24 Photo Festival and is set to release the second edition of A Post-Industrial Dreamscape. Jermaine is currently an associate lecturer at the Royal College of Art, London College of Communication, and Central Saint Martins. He was nominated for the 2024 Foam Paul Huf Award.
Sunil Shah
Sunil Shah is an artist and writer. He is PhD candidate at Central St. Martins, University of the Arts London (UAL) affiliated with Afterall Research. He is currently researching art and exhibition histories with a particular focus on Okwui Enwezor’s Documenta11 (2002). His work centres on the visual document, photography and the archives with an interest in analysing their role in relation to postcolonial theory, social and political history and black studies. In addition to several group shows (The Photographers Gallery, London Gallery West and Peckham24), he has had solo shows of his work Uganda Stories at the New Art Exchange (2015) and The Pitt Rivers Museum (2018). He is Editor of Neither Magazine (2023) and a freelance writer, with contributions to American Suburb X online photography and visual culture platform, FOAM Magazine, FOMU Extra and several other titles and commissions.
