Legacies Forgotten: Black Art and Artists in 1980s Britain, my ARIA research project, focused on Black artist collectives and artists during 1980s Britain. Artists and art historians like Eddie Chambers, Kobena Mercer, Sonia Boyce and collectives like the BLK Art group and Black Audio Film Collective played a key role cultivating spaces for Black art to thrive. Often left unacknowledged and unrecognized, these pioneers of Black art in Britain responded to the world around them by creating artistic spaces for/ by Black artists. Working with Dr. Matthew Hunter, I spent the summer surveying the historical landscape of 1980s Britain, its impact on the British Black community, and how artists mobilized. Further, I collected archival evidence in London to continue to add onto the accessible knowledge on these artists, collectives, and exhibitions. I also read and collected a bibliography of the academic works of key Black art historians at the time who documented the 1980s in Britain.
What sparked my interest in my ARIA Project was my art history honors thesis which focused on depictions of Black enslaved figures in the 18th century as well as my research on Black women artists in Canada and their historical impact. In my research on the history of the Black experience in Western societies both during enslavement and after, I constantly noticed how Black artistic and creative production is often neglected. As surely there is more to Black history than slavery and civil rights, I wondered how Black people have engaged with creativity both during enslavement and after. Black liberation cannot be confined to the fight against oppression - it is also the ongoing pursuit of Black radical joy and expression. With these thoughts in mind and conversations with Dr. Hunter, we settled on the 1980s in Britain due to its temporal positionality as a moment of heightened Black resistance in Britain but also through the work of Eddie Chambers and Stuart Hall who both highlight the importance of the 1980s as a key moment in Black artistic production.
My main learning objective was to survey the historical landscape and spend time learning about who key figures were, what exhibitions were held, and how Black artists formed and participated in the community. I wanted to get to know these artists, their works, and the exhibitions they were a part of. In doing so, I aimed to practice my archival skills but also see firsthand how artists and collectives were creating exhibitions for Black artists, how they were being funded, and what their objectives were.
The highlight of the research project was traveling to London for three weeks. Spending time in the museum and archival space truly reignited a spark in me for my passion for art and its histories. It is one thing to learn about art in a classroom, but it is another to look at a painting firsthand, experience its intricacies and complexities, and to further your relationship to that work through looking at its archives. I went to The Bluecoat, an art gallery in Liverpool, as they happened to have an ongoing exhibition on Black artists in the 1980s. After seeing the displays of exhibition flyers and photos of the pieces shown, I went to their archive and explored these works further, seeing the original negatives and the correspondence between the curators and the artists. Spending time in such important spaces to this artistic movement allowed for such a greater depth of understanding of the time period that was truly eye opening and wonderful to experience. A major challenge I faced in doing my research was time management, especially during my time in London and making time for intentional rest. Because there is so much to see in the archives, as well as spending time exploring London generally, I found there were a few days where I felt quite exhausted and drained. I wanted to spend as much time as possible working on the project and seeing what London had to offer, but also recognized that I had to take days to rest, as well as cultivate a sustainable routine around wellness. By doing this, I was able to have a great and productive time.
ARIA has been such a wonderful, eye-opening experience that I am immensely grateful for. I think it has helped me find clarity on what I would like to do post-graduation and what sort of career I want to strive for moving forward. I hope to continue to do work like this in the future, and I would like to thank the Dean of Arts for allowing me this opportunity to grow as a researcher and art historian.
