Black Quantum Futurism

Time Is On Our Side
Exhibition by
black quantum futurism

27 February – 22 March 2026

^{Black Quantum Futurism: CPT Reversal, at REDCAT November 6, 2021-March 5, 2022, Photo courtesy of REDCAT} ^{(IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Circular viewing window tilted diagonally, showing a handwritten page with words including ‘Moor law,’ ‘sexesx,’ ‘indigo,’ and ‘mundi’ partially overlaid with a golden-toned figure arranged across a textured surface.)}

^{Black Quantum Futurism: CPT Reversal, at REDCAT November 6, 2021-March 5, 2022, Photo courtesy of REDCAT} ^{(IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A silhouetted figure appears within a small, circular viewing window, projected against a pale blue background. The figure is shown in profile with both arms raised to their head. The surrounding area outside the circular frame is dark.)}

Opening Hours

27 February – 22 March 2026
Opening: Friday 27 February, 6–9 pm

Exhibition Hours: Friday–Saturday, 12–5 pm
Thursday and Sunday by appointment only
(Please email mine@vssl-studio.org)

Public Programme: Black Quantum Futurism will be part of the Choreographing the Apocalypse series at Rose Choreographic School’s þ thorns þ podcast. The episode will be published on the VSSL Studio website and the Rose Choreographic School website. Further details will be announced soon.

--> Exhibition Text
--> Audio Recording of the Exhibition Text
--> Visual Story of How to Get to VSSL Studio

--> Interview with Black Quantum Futurism, CERN 2021
--> Counter Clockwise: Unmapping Black Temporalities from Greenwich Mean Timelines by Phillips Rasheedah

Time Is On Our Side draws on Black Quantum Futurism’s understandings of time, darkness, and information to reimagine the black hole from a site of destruction into one of creation and transformation. Akin to Irma Thomas’s version of Time Is On My Side—recorded before it was displaced, disconnected from its origin, and later reclaimed—the exhibition understands temporality as a non-linear experience: what crosses an event horizon is not necessarily destroyed or lost. It is only delayed, displaced, or rendered illegible outside the visible boundary of the Western linear timeline running from past to present to future.

At the centre of the exhibition, the Black Hole Viewfinder poses the event horizon as a threshold rather than a predetermined ending. It is a spacetime where my side turns into our side, and where private time crosses interstitially into shared durations. As with the black hole’s information paradox, recognition may arrive out of sequence—returned altered, yet still conveying an intentional message. Time, under these circumstances, can obscure, but it can also curve back on itself, revealing, redeeming, and restoring what was once considered lost.

^{HOPE exhibition views, Museion Bozen/Bolzano, 30.09.2023 – 25.02.2024 Photo: Lineematiche, L. Guadagnini, @Museion (IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Circular viewing window framing a mirrored black-and-white scene of two columned buildings facing each other across a lawn, with small figures standing between them)}

About BLACK QUANTUM FUTURISM

Black Quantum Futurism (BQF) is an interdisciplinary practice founded by Camae Ayewa and Rasheedah Phillips that synthesizes quantum physics with Afrodiasporic principles and ontologies of time, space, ritual, text, and sound, yielding an innovative framework for the creation of counterhistories and alternate futures. Rooted in a commitment to challenge mainstream narratives, BQF actively confronts exclusionary perspectives of history and the future, offering critical alternatives that uplift Black experiences and possibilities. The collective has been instrumental in the conceptualization and execution of an array of community-based projects, performances, experimental music projects, immersive installations, educational workshops, published books, short films, and a diverse range of zines. Two seminal initiatives by Black Quantum Futurism include the award-winning Community Futures Lab, which serves as an interactive platform for communal storytelling and speculative planning, and the Black Women Temporal Portal, aimed at amplifying the often-overlooked narratives of Black women through a variety of media. Black Quantum Futurism's art, writing, and music have been nationally and internationally recognized. They were honored as 2022 Creative Capital Fellows, while also receiving the distinction of being 2020 CERN Artist Residents. Additional fellowships and grants include the 2021 Knight Art + Tech Fellowship, the 2018 Velocity Fund Grant, and the 2017 Center for Emerging Visual Artists Fellowship, among others. BQF was further acknowledged as a 2017 Pew Fellow, reflecting their sustained impact in the artistic community. The reach of BQF's work extends to prestigious global platforms where they have presented, exhibited, and performed. These include REDCAT, Counterpublic 2023, Red Bull Arts NY, Chicago Architecture Biennial, Village of Arts and Humanities, Leeum Museum of Art, ICA London, ApexArt NYC, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. International showcases also feature prominently, with installations at documenta fifteen, Manifesta 13, ICA London and more.

www.blackquantumfuturism.com

Portrait of Rasheedah Phillips and Camae Ayewa (Moor Mother), courtesy of Ebru Yildiz - (IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A black-and-white portrait of two black people standing side by side against a plain textured wall, both facing the camera).

About Rasheedah Phillips

Rasheedah Phillips is a queer housing advocate, parent, writer, interdisciplinary artist, and cultural producer who uses web-based projects,zines, short film, archival practices, experimental non-fiction, speculative fiction, printmaking, performance, social practice, installation and creative research to explore the construct of time, temporalities, and community futurisms through a Black futurist cultural lens and experience. As the Director of Housing, Rasheedah leads PolicyLink’s national advocacy to support the growing tenants’ rights, housing, and land use movements in partnership with grassroots partners, movement leaders, industry, and government leaders.

Previously serving as Managing Attorney of Housing Policy at Community Legal Services of Philadelphia, Rasheedah has led various housing policy campaigns that resulted in significant legislative changes, including a right to counsel for tenants in Philadelphia, and the Renter’s Access Act, one of the strongest laws in the nation to address blanket ban eviction polices having a disparate impact on renters of color. Their writing and artwork has appeared in The Funambulist Magazine, e-flux Architecture, Flash Art Magazine, Philadelphia Inquirer, Recess Arts, and more. Phillips is the founder of The AfroFuturist Affair, founding member of Metropolarity Queer Speculative Fiction Collective, co-founder of Black Quantum Futurism, co-creator of the award winning Community Futures Lab, and creator of the Time Zone Protocols, Black Women Temporal Portal, and Black Time Belt projects. Phillips is the author of the book Dismantling the Master’s Clock: On Race, Space, and Time out on AK Press.

www.rasheedah.net

About Camae Ayewa

Camae Ayewa (Moor Mother) is a national and international touring musician, poet, visual artist, and professor, and has performed at numerous festivals, colleges, galleries, and museums around the world, sharing the stage with King Britt, Roscoe Mitchell, Claudia Rankine, Bell Hooks, and more. Camae is a vocalist in three collaborative performance groups: Irreversible Entanglements, MoorJewelry and 700Bliss.

www.moormother.net

access information

The exhibition is free to attend.

Getting Here

VSSL is on Resolution Way, on the ground floor of an apartment building called Resolution Studios, opposite the commercial arches.
It is part of the creative hub Enclave, which includes other galleries and creative spaces.
ADDRESS: VSSL Studio, Enclave 50, Resolution Way. London SE8 4AL
View on Google Maps
VISUAL STORY: How to Get to VSSL (PDF available)

Step-free access

Step-free access to VSSL is available via Tidemill Way
Please check the Visual Story for Directional photos of the route

Parking and Drop-Off Points

Accessible parking: The nearest accessible parking is on Frankham Street (Pay & Display / Parking Boulevard).
It is a tree-lined road with spaces on both sides.
The walk from Frankham Street to VSSL takes around 4 minutes via Tidemill Way.
Drop-off point: The nearest car drop-off point is on Tidemill Way, behind Deptford Lounge.
From here, there is a short, step-free route through the car park directly to VSSL.

Public Transport

VSSL is well connected by public transport.

Train: The nearest rail station is Deptford Station, about 4 minutes’ walk along a flat route. The station has step-free access.
DLR: Deptford Bridge Station is about 10 minutes’ walk along a flat route. It also has step-free access.
Bus: The closest stop is Wavelengths on Deptford Church Street.
Only bus 47 serves this stop. It runs between Bellingham (Catford Bus Garage) and Shoreditch, passing through Lewisham, Deptford, Canada Water, Bermondsey, London Bridge, and Liverpool Street Station.

(See Visual Story for more detail).

VSSL STUDIO Space Information

The exhibition space measures 3.95 metres wide, 6 metres long, and 4 metres high.
The entrance door is 1.70 metres wide, heavy, and opens manually inward.
Please ask a member of staff for assistance if needed.
Lighting: Dim lights throughout.
Noise / Volume: The video will play at mid volume.
Temperature: We have one heater in the space so it’s warmer than outside but still cool.

Seating & Walking Canes

Two types of seating are available:

A single bench
Chairs with backs (please ask a member of staff for assistance if needed.

There are 2 walking canes available for visitors who would like extra support.

Support Animals

Support animals are welcome.
Drinking bowls will be provided.

COVID Safety

The exhibition space is medium-sized (3.95m × 6m × 4m), which may limit air circulation when crowded.
We provide N95 masks and hand sanitiser at the entrance.
We encourage visitors to test before attending and to wear a face mask during the exhibition.

Scent-Conscious Space

To help keep VSSL safe for everyone, please avoid wearing perfume or scented products whenever possible.

Toilets

There is one toilet located along the Resolution Way fenced path, two doors down from VSSL.
It is gender-neutral and wheelchair accessible.

The toilet includes:

One hinged rail and one vertical rail beside the toilet
Two vertical rails by the sink
An emergency cord that reaches the floor (on the right side of the toilet)

The toilet door is heavy and opens manually outward. VSSL team are happy to provide assistance.

Emergency Exit
and Assembly Point

Emergency exits are clearly marked throughout the space.
The Designated Assembly Point is in the Tidemill Way car park, near the gates.
In case of emergency, VSSL staff will guide visitors safely to the assembly point.

Credits

BLACK QUANTUM FUTURISM as part of ENTANGLEMENTS OF THE APOCALYPSE is co-curated by Mine Kaplangı, Benjamin Sebastian, Joseph Morgan Schofield and Ash McNaughton. The programme is made possible with public funding from the National Lottery and Arts Council England. Special thanks to Rowan Powell, Martin O’Brien, and Niya B for their invaluable technical and installation support for this exhibition.

Time Is On Our Side Exhibition by black quantum futurism