Courtesy of Topher Campbell. Photo: Ajamu X
SAFI BUGEL You founded the rukus! Federation in 2000 with photographer Ajamu X. What led you to set it up?
TOPHER CAMPBELL At that time, Black queer people were thought of as a cultural deficit. This manifested vitriolically with homophobia or racism, or we were seen as a lump of people. Ajamu and I wanted to create a more playful, creative space to exist in. rukus! was a way to have fun and invite other artists to the party. The name has a double meaning: to cause a ruckus, and it’s also a reference to the 1990s porn star named Rukus with a 10-inch dick. The politics behind it were to creatively shift culture away from simplistic and oppressive ideas of what we are and where we come from.
SB And the archive followed in 2005?
TC After our first exhibition in 2005, we ended up with a lot of stuff: posters, books, minutes of meetings, club flyers, which became the archive. You’ve got to understand, this was not an exercise. This was life preservation. In the 1990s, people were questioning, to our faces, the existence of Black queer people. We wanted to be the generation to say, ‘You cannot refuse our existence’.
SB How has the archive evolved over the years, and how do you keep it alive?
TC It keeps itself alive, to be honest. Ajamu and I call it our love child. It screams and cries and walks off in a huff, but we keep looking after it. It has a life of its own, because the questions it raises around the space that Black queer people take up are still very much alive.
SB Can you tell me about your new installation in the Tanks?
TC It’s a kind of archive of emotion. You’ll see film, sculpture and visual painting, and hear or experience sound. There’s an exploration of afrofuturism, as well as club culture and the idea of community through dance, the release of the body. There’s another room about meditation and stillness, which is about moving away from that scrolling, clickbaity, impatient Western world into a space of sensation and memory. And it’s all very personal.
SB You’ve talked about the mischievous attitude at the core of rukus!. How have you brought this approach to the Tanks?
TC There’s a lot of humour in the sound; you’ll hear a group of people talking to you in quite a witty, intimate way. If you look at the large projections, they’re full of joy and fun too. And also sex. Once you say it’s art, people get very serious. But what I’m actually saying is: look at how hot this guy is! Look at how joyful these sexy people are. Aren’t you stimulated by that?
Topher Campbell: My rukus! Heart continues at Tate Modern until 26 January 2025.
Topher Campbell is an artist, filmmaker and writer who lives in London. He talked to Safi Bugel, Editorial Assistant, Tate Etc.
