Barn Conversation: Journeys with women potters in West Africa with Bisila Noha
Join London-based ceramic artist Bisila Noha for an intimate conversation at OmVed Gardens Barn, where she will share her experiences travelling through pottery communities in Ivory Coast, Nigeria, and Senegal.
Through active participation in the making process, Bisila explored traditions passed down through generations, deeply connected to their local environments, histories, and ways of life. Hear her stories, reflections, and insights into the women potters whose practices continue to inspire and shape her work.
This conversation invites questions, discussion, and a closer look at the artistry, resilience, and knowledge embedded in these vibrant ceramic traditions.
Facilitated by Claire Pearce, director of specialist craft gallery Thrown, this event is part of the solo exhibition ‘Bisila Noha: Ile Ọkàn (House of the Soul) (20th - 29th March), presented by Thrown at OmVed Gardens. The conversation will be held within the exhibition itself offering a unique and intimate view of the works on show.
About the speakers:
Bisila Noha is a Spanish-Equatoguinean, London-based ceramic artist, researcher, and writer. Her practice challenges Western distinctions between art and craft, questioning ideas of productivity and value while reflecting on home, oneness, and belonging through lived experiences across pottery communities.
Working with clay, vessels, and sculptural forms, Noha connects material histories to personal and ancestral narratives. A storyteller at heart, she centres the often overlooked contributions of women of colour, using both making and writing as a bridge between forgotten pasts and the present.
Alongside her artistic practice, Noha is a feminist activist and community organiser, with a background in Translation and International Relations.
Claire Pearce is the Director of Thrown, an online and pop-up gallery with a specialism in contemporary ceramics that showcases exceptional art and design in all of its forms, aiming to draw links and question boundaries between process, form and function. Through a programme of exhibitions, they represent internationally acclaimed names alongside emerging talent, providing a much-needed platform for makers finding their identity as artists. Originally launched in a gallery space in Highgate, North London, in 2021 the gallery moved out of this fixed physical space to focus on online & pop-up exhibitions.
About OmVed Gardens:
OmVed Gardens is a garden, exhibition, events, and learning space in North London dedicated to exploring the connections between food, ecology and creativity for health and climate resilience. We are on a mission to inspire ecological awareness and action, and deepen our understanding of interconnectedness with the natural world.
As a registered Community Interest Company, all our activities prioritise social and ecological objectives. Whether collaborating with chefs, creatives, gardeners, or schools, OmVed Gardens is a hub for education, connection, and action. We aim to inspire individuals and communities to reimagine their role in building a healthier, more resilient world.
We work to increase biodiversity - of species, seeds, food systems, and participation, through regenerative gardening, seed saving, habitat creation, and ecological education. Our space serves as a living example of how urban areas can be transformed into thriving ecosystems that support both human and non-human communities.
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Refund Policy: Tickets are non-refundable.
