Art is coming home: The second edition of the Brent Biennial has arrived

Head to what was once Cod’s Plaice fish and chip shop, just across the road from Kilburn Station, and you’ll find the shop transformed into a Jamaican takeaway with a difference. Linett Kamala’s ‘Disya Dancehall’ pays homage to the dancehall queens of the early noughties. Along with seeing Kamala’s energy-filled paintings adorning the walls, you can also listen to the audio recordings of interviews with revellers of the dancehall scene that play out into the installation while you’re inside.

Over at St Matthew’s Church, you’ll find a collection of works by Katarzyna Perlak, including an array of beautiful hanging sculptures known as Pajaki. The artist has infused the traditions of Polish folk art with a contemporary queer aesthetic, resulting in an array of free-flowing, soft objects in mermaid colours. Visitors to the church can also check out Perlak’s other series, ‘My Grandma Dolly’s’, which uses vintage tablecloths made by her grandmother as the base for printed family photos and embroidered comments on heritage and identity.

At The Library at Willesden Green, you can uncover Ed Webb-Ingall’s radio play ‘Growing Up Brent’ ready and waiting for you to listen to. The play has been created with help from the Mosaic LGBT+ Young Persons’ Trust and looks at the role of the group when it was first set up, and how it gave support to people coming of age during the Aids epidemic and section 28 legislation.

No really, head to The Arches in Kilburn and you'll find a newly-commissioned iteration of film work from the artist and choreographer Alex Baczynski-Jenkins. Aptly named ‘You are a guest now’, this performance interweaves the lives of four artists and friends in Warsaw, creating a poetic portrait of queer life, friendship and love against the state of hostility towards LGBTQIA+ communities in Poland. The film was first created in 2019, with new footage conceived and recorded in iterations before becoming a full documentary in 2023. This is one unmissable chance to be a part of the cine-performance in a unique location. 

‘In the House of my Love' runs until September 11. Find out more here.