| Description | The Black Arts section of the archive covers several organisations, papers and artists who Stuart Hall was in constant dialogue with during his life. Two organisations that Hall was Chairman of - Institute of International Visual Art (INIVA) and Autograph ABP - feature in this part of the collection due to Hall’s constant involvement. Included in this section is the draft material from the book ‘Different: a historical context: Contemporary photographers and black identity' by Stuart Hall and Mark Sealy’ published by Autograph in 2001 and features the work of many artists in the 35mm slides in the archive, presenting their work. These artists include Rotimi Fani-Kayode, David.A Bailey, Sonia Boyce, Sunil Gupta, Roshini Kempadoo and Ajamu.
As a result of Hall’s involvement in arts institutions he was aware of and interested in Black artists and practitioners who were key members of the Blk Arts Group. The Blk Arts Group was a collective started in 1979 and ending in 1984 which included artists who today are well known and respected in their field, including Keith Piper, Eddie Chambers, Marlene Smith and Donald Rodney. They took their inspiration from a variety of sources, including the American Black Arts Movement of the 1960s and 1970s and they covered topics such as politics, gender, class and race. These artists were very active during the 1980s and beyond and went on to work with organisations that Stuart Hall was well connected with such as INIVA and Autograph ABP. Many of the artists both in and associated with the Blk Arts Group were inspired and promoted by Hall, through his work with Autograph and INIVA.
Artists and filmmakers that Stuart Hall regularly collaborated with include Isaac Julien, John Akomfrah and Chris Ofili. Well known artists and photographers who were involved with Ten.8; Photographic Journal which aimed to provide a forum for photographers in the West Midlands to share images and ideas are also featured in several parts of the catalogue via draft writings by Hall himself or 35mm slides of their work. |