ArtUnity
As part of an international cohort of 12 artivists, Rawz received the 2024 Bertha Artivism Award.
The award recognises artists nominated by their community who use their creativity to catalyse social change. This recognition afforded Rawz the opportunity to create ArtUnity, a year long project rooted in the power of art to break down barriers and initiate social change. ArtUnity aimed to address the sharp socio-economic and racial divides in Oxford - one of the UK’s most unequal cities.
The overarching goal of ArtUnity was to create and curate spaces for understanding, solidarity, and a unified movement for social change. Rawz commissioned work from Oxford artists with diverse life experiences, curated an exhibition and film screening, and organised and contributed to several other events across the city through out 2024 that brought artists, activists, and community members together around art appreciation, ideation, and collaborative action.
Find out more below.
LIFE IN OXFORD Film Collection
This series of short films offers a window into life in Oxford, as seen through the eyes of its filmmakers, curated by Rawz as part of the ArtUnity project.
Each piece brings a unique perspective on identity, space, struggle, resilience, and belonging in Oxford. From grassroots storytelling to poetic visual statements, this collection brings together the lived experiences of people rarely seen or heard in mainstream narratives of a city synonymous with elitism and privilege.
This collection contains the work of several Film Makers. 00:00 City Of Cycles – Samuel Mansell https://www.dropallwordsmedia.com/ https://www.instagram.com/samuel_mansell https://www.instagram.com/dropallwords/ 03:52 News Item – ATV Today https://www.macearchive.org/films/atv-today-20061978-oxford-community-centre 07:51 Spaces & Places – Asher Dust https://www.instagram.com/asherdust1 09:27 Spaces We Made Our Own – Ruel-Eli James https://www.entouragemediashots.com https://www.instagram.com/reuel.eli https://www.instagram.com/entouragemediashots 16:03 Truth of the Youth – Samuel Mansell https://www.dropallwordsmedia.com/ https://www.instagram.com/samuel_mansell https://www.instagram.com/dropallwords/ 25:09 Homeless Woman Sleeping Rough in Oxford, England Died Sleeping Outside – Invisible People https://invisiblepeople.tv/ https://youtu.be/qz3cAS84lSY?si=-HjbA_xx1flHkVFy 31:20 The Tales Of Colin the Clowncillor – Joe Coleman & Family https://www.instagram.com/joe.coleman.1905 38:33 F*ck Your Policies – Mya Fraser https://www.instagram.com/mya.fras3r 40:41 Interview with Jabu Nala Hartley – Rawz https://www.rawzcreates.com https://www.instagram.com/rawz_official 48:34 Style & Spaces – Asher Dust https://www.instagram.com/asherdust1 50:33 Kamwokya vs Oxford – Mkhulule Foundation https://mkhululegirlchildfoundation.wordpress.com/ https://www.instagram.com/set_me_free_project/ 56:41 The Soil That Watched Us Grow – Ruel-Eli James https://www.entouragemediashots.com https://www.instagram.com/reuel.eli https://www.instagram.com/entouragemediashots
LIFE IN OXFORD EXHIBITION
In September 2024, the Life in Oxford exhibition opened at OVADA gallery in Oxford as part of the ArtUnity project, offering an evocative exploration of life in the iconic yet divided city. Curated by Rawz, the exhibition brought together an inspiring collection of work from 14 Oxford-based artists and community groups.
Through painting, photography, sculpture, sound, and interactive installations, the exhibition highlighted a rich diversity of perspectives on what it means to live in Oxford - capturing beauty, contradiction, and deep-rooted social challenges.
The exhibition’s goal was to promote community cohesion and awareness by creating a space for open reflection and dialogue. It invited visitors to consider Oxford beyond its postcard image, and instead encounter the lived realities of its residents.
See photos from the exhibition and view a video tour below.
Life In Oxford Exhibition Photo Gallery
Photo credits:
Izabela Jaroslawska
Life In Oxford Exhibition Video Tour
Rawz gives a video tour of the Exhibition.
Paper Jam
Initially funded through the ArtUnity project, Paper Jam is an on going series of public social events that blend live music with visual art. Held in various pub venues across Oxford, it features an open mic, and bespoke performances from musicians, while providing free art supplies for the audience to express their creativity inspired by the environment, the conversation and of course the music.
Over the course of the events the Paper Jam sketch books have become full of people’s, doodles, sketches, poems, thoughts and drunken scribbles. At some point there will be a special auction event where the sketch books and other Paper Jam creations will be sold to support more Paper Jams and other public art projects.
This unique fusion of sound and vision aims to build a collaborative atmosphere and sense of community between Oxford’s music and visual arts communities and beyond. In that spirit Paper Jam is itself a collaboration between Rawz, Urban Music Foundation, In-Spire Sounds, MES Graffiti Crew, Drop All Words Media and several pub venues across Oxford.
Events In Oxford WhatsApp Group
To help people in Oxford find out about and share events, Rawz started the Events in Oxford WhatsApp Group as part of the ArtUnity Project.
You can join the group by scanning the QR code below. Please read the group guidelines before posting.
GROUP GUIDELINES
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𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐥𝐲𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐮𝐩𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐎𝐱𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐝.
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𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜 𝐞𝐧𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬/𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 (“𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞/𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐭?”, “𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝!”, “𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐈 𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞?” “𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐈 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐤𝐢𝐝𝐬” 𝐞𝐭𝐜.) 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐞. 𝐒𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐚𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐧.
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𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐛𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩, 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐟𝐬.
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𝐏𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞’𝐬 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐝 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬.
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𝐈𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 “𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫” 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐭, 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰!
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𝐀𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦.
Thank you.