In this episode of Punchcard, we speak with Taylor Le Melle, a founding member of not/nowhere, a BPOC worker cooperative that supports artists to navigate the structures and institutions of the UK art world, unpacking harmful myths and helping artists to recognise and use their power in the industry.
Taylor sees the arts as a perverse industry which also has unique opportunities for redistribution, as it is one of the only industries “where you could charge £20,000 for something that you worked on for five minutes”. By accessing capital through art, resources can be redirected toward education and movement-building. not/nowhere itself does this through its access to antique analogue film equipment and funding from the Arts Council.
As a BPOC cooperative which is also queer-led, not/nowhere challenges other co-ops to move beyond inclusion efforts and instead adopt a more radical approach to redistribution. Inclusion, even in its most well-intentioned forms, often demands assimilation, whereas redistribution supports alternative ideas and ways of being that come from the bottom up. In this reclamation of solidarity, self-sacrifice becomes central: if you are unwilling to give something up, is it truly redistributing power, or simply another form of charity?
Tune in to hear the full discussion with Taylor.
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