“Scholars say that Africans don’t have a word for art. I say, Westerners don’t have a word for art. What is art? Westerners say, art is something that’s never used; art for art’s sake. What sort of art is never used? All art is used. African Art is heavily used. My definition of art is, something that is used to express people’s ideas about the world they live in. In my mind, this means, Africans are the only people who understand art and that we, the Westerners are the only people who don’t have a word for art.” - Kwamé Sorrell

BlackMass Publishing is an independent publisher promoting and publishing books and zines by Black artists founded by Yusuf Hassan. At once a structure of coherent units and a collection of disjointed parts, BlackMass invokes an aggregate of Blackness, of matter in resistance. Combining archival photographs and found print material with poetry and jazz music, BlackMass grapples with the blurred lines and idiosyncrasies which make up the collective improvisation of African diasporic culture.

Good to know

• Published in 2021 by BlackMass Publishing

• Softcover with B&W photocopy and legends

• 80 pages