A Movement Hatches: Nightjar Launch Exhibition

Aug 22, 2025 | Nightjar

By africanactivities

Exhibition & Nightjar Launch

When we opened the doors to the Nightjar exhibition at SPUD, we hoped it would spark conversation. What happened went far beyond our hopes.

Visitors told us:

  • “It was the best exhibition opening we’ve ever been to.”

  • “For the first time, I felt like my story belonged in a New Forest gallery.”

The exhibition wove together sculpture, painting, storytelling, and film to explore belonging across two homelands: the New Forest and Gonja. It was a space filled with laughter, deep reflection, and connections that will continue to grow.

Nightjar began as an idea — a bird flying between worlds. At the exhibition, it became a movement, carried by the people who joined us.

Representatives of the Nigerian and Ghanaian Societies meet over the artwork at the opening night of the Nightjar
Animated discussion and new connections inspired by the Nightjar Project
A diverse audience watches a live performance in the New Forest; Ghana is projected on the back wall alongside colourful paintings. An elderly man smiles joyfully as he enjoys the drumming and dancing at The Nightjar event.
Kwame from African Activities and Mark from SPUD speak to a diverse audience at the Nightjar opening night.
Ghana Society Drumming for the Nightjar Project
Nightjar Project Opening Night – Sculpture and Art Exhibition
The Nightjar sculpture in a gallery, surrounded by paintings by Kwame that reflect stories from migrants.
Black guests of African and Caribbean heritage listen as Tom from SPUD explains the film’s creation during a Nightjar workshop.
Audience joins from Buipe on a screen while a packed gallery in the UK watches during a Nightjar Project livestream.
Kwame Bakoji-Hume engages a class of Ghanaian children in Buipe, explaining the meaning of the Nightjar Project.
Kwame from African Activities works with willow in and of the New Forest with the Nightjar sculpture taking shape in the background.
The King of Buipe and community members watch a powerful film of the burning forest, part of the Nightjar Project’s launch in Ghana.

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