YUMA STUDIOS x TILL THE BITTER END

Join us at REFERENCE POINT for the launch of YUMA STUDIOS and the release of TILL THE BITTER END (TTBE) — a new zine featuring work from YUMA by James Clifford Kent (designed by Malak Kabbani and available to buy for the first time on the night) — part of Photo London 2026 (14–17 May).
YUMA is an award-winning body of work documenting Cuba across two decades, presented for the first time at Photo London. It traces a line from hope to hopelessness, bringing together documentary photography, ephemera, and testimony in a mixed-media study of a country experiencing its worst crisis since the 1990s. James has been returning to the island since 2004, building deep emotional ties and lasting relationships through time, trust, and complete immersion.
STORIES
On the night, James Clifford Kent and Professor Anamik Saha,(Race and Media, University of Leeds) extend their recent Wasafiri interview — joined by Egyptian-German artist and TTBE designer Malak Kabbani and Latin Grammy-winning percussionist, composer & musical director Hammadi Valdés, in a discussion on authorship, responsibility and positionality.
TILL THE BITTER END
TTBE is a photographic zine bringing together photographs and ephemera gathered over twenty years, made with people who trusted James with their stories. At a moment when Cuba is being squeezed again, the work serves less as a historical record of a turbulent period on the Caribbean’s largest island and more as a record of what survival looks like when hope is repeatedly interrupted.
MUSIC & ART

The night continues with Afro-Cuban beats, DnB, jungle, garage & more—courtesy of DJ Jamie Rodigan, Hammadi Valdés & other special guests— plus a signing with James and Charlotte Archer.
Ticket proceeds will be donated to UNICEF's Hurricane Melissa Appeal.
COME EARLY
STAY LATE
BRING YOUR PEOPLE

YUMA STUDIOS
Yuma Studios is a London-based creative agency co-founded in 2025 by Charley and James Clifford Kent. They produce concept-led visual work rooted in cultural storytelling and social documentary. Their projects move between documentary and fine art, combining compassion, emotional depth and a human-first approach.
WASAFIRI
Wasafiri is the UK’s leading magazine for international contemporary writing. Established in 1984 to platform diverse voices from Africa, the Caribbean, Asia, and their diasporas, the magazine has since grown to introduce readers worldwide to the best in global writing across borders, publishing work that is outward-looking, ambitious, and international in scope. Its name stems from the Kiswahili word for ‘travellers’. Wasafiri 124: Presencia y Resistencia — British Latinx Writing & Art features an interview between James Clifford Kent and Anamik Saha.
HURRICANE MELISSA APPEAL
Hurricane Melissa swept across the Caribbean, bringing heavy rain, powerful winds, and catastrophic flooding. More than 700,000 children have been impacted across Jamaica, Cuba, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic. Homes have been destroyed, families displaced, and essential services like health and education severely disrupted. UNICEF is on the ground responding to the urgent needs of children and families.

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Reference Point, 2 Arundel Street, London, United Kingdom

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