The Artists’ Forum at Guildhall Art Gallery: Putting Colour Back into Art

The Artists’ Forum is part of a public programme of inspirational events being held to accompany the highly successful ‘No Colour Bar: Black British Art in Action 1960-1990’ exhibition currently on display at the Guildhall Art Gallery in the City of London. This will be a unique opportunity to discuss the issues that arise from being a Black artist working in Britain today.

The event will commence with small group artist-led discussions to encourage visual artists to convene, share and map their own way forward, followed by an afternoon of open discussion. Looking ahead, it is hoped that the Forum will become an established informal network to help shape the positioning and support needed for Black British artists and their work.

Artist-led Discussions:
A number of ‘No Colour Bar’ exhibiting artists will ‘host’ a table where they will share their individual journeys, creative practices, socio-political contents and their take on visual arts personas. The host artists will include Chila Kumari Burman, Winston Branch, Sokari Douglas Camp, George Kelly (Fowokan) and Paul Dash. Denzil Forrester will be joining the conversation in the second part of the day.

Open Discussions:
Through a series of open discussions led by Nigel Allyson Ryan, FRSA, the Forum will take as its starting point the ground-breaking ‘No Colour Bar: Black British Art in Action 1960-1990’ exhibition which draws on both the archives of leading Black rights campaigners Eric and Jessica Huntley and features the work of the foremost Black artists of the past 40 years.

Potential themes include:
• Women artists.
• The influence of socio-political events in the 1970s and 1980s in the context of being a Black British artist.
• Black artists’ contribution to the international art scene.
• Opening up of a new expressiveness powered by new art forms.
• Narratives around dissecting the discourses of ‘Familiarity and Context, ‘Journey and Peace’

The exhibition is part of the Black British Art in Action 1960-1990 project led by Friends of the Huntley Archives at LMA. The project was made possible by National Lottery players thanks to a grant of nearly £300,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF).