3 Black Art exhibitions to visit post-BHM
3 Black Art exhibitions to visit post-BHM
Black History Month may have ended for the year, but Black creativity continues to shine every day.
Image: Armet Francis from the series Lambeth and Brixton Tube 1994 | sourced by Kemi Iruwa
Black History in the UK takes centre stage every October, during which various events and cultural activities are held in celebration of Black people’s work while drawing attention to more serious topics. It is an opportunity to learn more about important figures in Black history and to hear about emerging names especially within the context of artistry.
However, the end of October does not have to mean the end of our interest in Black creativity until next year. There are always a multitude of showcases and events happening, albeit they may become less visible.
2023 has seen amazing presentations by Emeka Ogboh, Isaac Julien and Gabrial Moses whose first solo exhibition garnered the attention of thousands.
So, here are 3 more exhibitions you can visit to continue supporting and engaging with the work of Black creatives as 2023 comes to a close.
Hélène Amouzou
Voyages
Image: Hélène Amouzou from the series Autoportrait Liège 2017-2020 | sourced by Kemi Iruwa
Voyages is the first solo exhibition of Hélène Amouzou’s confronting self-portraits to be presented in the UK. The exhibition features a collection of hand-printed photographs that both raise themes of, and document the artist’s experiences with migration, identity and rejection.
Amouzou, who was born in 1969 in the West African Republic of Togo, now resides in Brussels, Belgium and over the course of her time waiting to be granted asylum in Belgium she created a series of analogue self-portraits.
Currently on display at Autograph in Shoreditch until January 2024, Voyages is an evocative and candid depiction of Amouzou’s intercontinental journey and invites us to empathise with and relate to her passage.
Angèle Etoundi Essamba
Africanesse
Image: Angèle Etoundi Essamba Double dos et face, 2002 | sourced by Kemi Iruwa
Quietly situated on Rivington Street in Shoreditch, you can find the contemporary African photography gallery, Doyle Wham. After a couple of flights of stairs you will arrive at the gallery entrance where you are greeted by striking imagery of Black feminine bodies in a thought-provoking and complex collection.
Africanesse marks Angèle Etoundi Essamba’s UK solo exhibition debut. The artworks on display were hand-developed by the Cameroon-born and Amsterdam-based artist between 1985 and 2006.
The exhibition presents black and white photography exclusively, allowing viewers to reflect on the artists’ narratives around Black skin, traditionalism, and the cultural identities of modern African women. This showing is extra special because it presents Essamba’s final analogue pieces before her transition to digital photography.
Armet Francis
Beyond the Black Triangle
Image: Armet Francis from the series Fashion Shoot, Brixton Market, London 1973 | sourced by Kemi Iruwa
Also at Autograph until January next year is Jamaican-British photographer Armet Francis’ Beyond the Black Triangle, an exhibition born as a result of his pledge to document the African Diaspora.
The exhibition’s name refers to a concept that Francis utilized to inform his decisions when exploring (in his own words) ‘the dimensions of the experiences of Black people’ - the triangle in question follows the routes of the slave trade across Africa, the Americas and Europe.
Francis’ 40 year long photographic journey across various nations is encapsulated in Beyond the Black Triangle - a light-hearted but impactful celebration of the survival of African diasporic cultures and how they are translated outside of their original lands.
Kemi Iruwa
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