Joy Yamusangie, Joseph Melhuish, Anna Mills, Henry J. Kamara: Tickets are now available for August’s Nicer Tuesdays!

As we move into the last full month of summer, many of us are eager to top up our creative juices before the colder seasons hit and we begin to spend more time at home. And a sure fire way to do that, of course, is by hearing from some of our creative heroes at Nicer Tuesdays. So join us this month at London’s Oval Space to tune into talks from four speakers occupying four different corners of the creative industry, who will each be discussing their respective practices and delving into some of their most exciting projects.

At the event, we will be hearing from visual artist and illustration aficionado Joy Yamusangie; animator and illustrator Joseph Melhuish; graphic designer Anna Mills; and photographer Henry J. Kamara. This lovely bunch will be speaking on some recent highlights from their illustrious careers, including creating exhibitions on gender euphoria plus illustrating and animating wild bodies on the dance floor.

As this is an 18+ event, please bring ID with you to the venue. If you are in need of disability access, please make yourself known to a member of the Oval Space team on the evening or email hello@nicertuesdays.com so we can arrange assistance. Head below to read more about our incredible panel of speakers.

In recent years, visual artist Joy Yamusangie has gone from strength to strength, making incredible work and collaborating with some big names along the way. Their enviable portfolio now boasts a mural for Gucci, an award-winning project titled WATA and, most recently, a beautiful series of paintings and relief prints titled Feeling Good. Joy will be joining us this month to discuss the latter, which is currently on display at NOW Gallery and explores the artists’ own experiences of gender euphoria through the subject matter of a fictional jazz club.

There’s something undeniably alluring about the work of illustrator, animator and director Joseph Melhuish. The squishy textures and tactile aesthetic of his characters invite us to reach out and touch them, and their inherent weirdness never fails to keep us guessing. Only an artist with a truly boundless imagination could keep pumping out such strange and wonderful creations, so it makes sense that we would invite them to share the secrets to their success. As such, Joseph will be taking to the stage to discuss his character designs, revealing the inspiration behind them and how he builds them using VR.

As a creative space, typography is constantly bursting with new designers, fonts and typefaces all eager to make an impression. Undoubtedly, it’s one of the most exciting fields to be working in, but it’s also an increasingly difficult one to leave a mark on. However, once in a while, a designer comes along who has a style so distinctive that they immediately break away from the crowd; as is the case with Bristol-based graphic designer Anna Mills. Specialising in wacky and wonderful typefaces that exhibit a “human” quality, Anna will be giving us the low-down on the processes that are involved in creating such eye-catching and unique work.

Born in Whitechapel, London to Sierra Leonean parents, photographer Henry J. Kamara centred his heritage within his practice from the very beginning. Driven by a desire to understand, document and promote the culture of Sierra Leone, as well as to support its people, he has since gone on to create a range of relevant projects, including his recent book Keep the Drums, Lose the Knife. Made in support of the eponymous organisation that was set up to tackle domestic abuse against women – focusing specifically on the issue of female genital mutilation – Henry will discuss his approach to this project, retracing his progress from conception through to execution and publication.