Black History Month

'BREATHE'  quilt by Melinda Schwakhofer

BREATHE

As black history month comes to a close, I would like to draw your attention to a number of very powerful works of art in our current exhibition 'BIRTHRIGHT'The image above shows a quilt made by textile artist Melinda Schwakhofer. Below is Melinda's statement about this extraordinary piece: 

"The ‘American Dream’ is founded on two evils – the genocide of Native Americans and the slavery of Africans. I make a direct link between the racism of the present-day USA and the widespread refusal to acknowledge that slavery is at its heart.

The murder of George Floyd, the eruption of the Black Lives Matter Movement and the toppling of statues around the world, saw centuries of rage pour forth in protests. All this happened during a time that limited our ability to share emotions with fellow human beings.

The day after George Floyd’s murder I made a covid mask, ‘I CAN’T BREATHE’, in an attempt to process not only the horror of that event but everything that had led to it over many generations. ‘BREATHE’ developed from this simple mask to a fully evolved quilt.

In ‘BREATHE’, the central figure’s body and pedestal are made from the18th Century Brooks Slave Ship engraving, showing human beings stacked and shackled, treated as cargo not people.

The toppling of statues – notably the toppling of the Colston statue in Bristol is not merely the tumbling of stone or metal; it is the overturning of centuries in which the beneficiaries of the slave trade were literally put on a pedestal while their victims were ignored.

My work explores hidden topics, exposes erased histories and uncovers the obscured roots of issues that are still raw and current. ’BREATHE’ questions stereotypes and accepted histories as part of a sustained challenge to white supremacy for a more nuanced and accurate view of colonialism, the British Empire and British exceptionalism." 

Digital portrait of Paul Coe by Jasmine Coe

Celebrating Paul Coe, Aboriginal Rights Activist

Artist Jasmine Coe, whose work is also the focus of

BIRTHRIGHT

, is the daughter of groundbreaking Aboriginal activist Paul Coe. Included in the exhibition are several digital portraits of Coe and his brother.

Paul Coe was active in the fight for basic human rights and justice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Coe along with other prominent activists founded the Aboriginal Tent Embassy which has become the centre of Aboriginal Land Rights. From this he went on to found the Aboriginal Legal Service in 1970, the first free legal assistance service in Australia. He continued to play an important role in this organisation until the late 1990s. In 1979, Coe commenced an unsuccessful action in the High Court of Australia known as 'Coe vs Commonwealth' arguing that rights of Aboriginal people as occupiers of Australia prior to British colonisation should be recognised. Ultimately the case was dismissed but paved the way and laid a foundation for the successful Mabo case 10 years later.

"On November 2nd 1976, two young Aboriginal men - Wiradjuri man Paul Coe and Bundjalung man Cecil Patten along with an Australian solicitor, Bruce Miles rowed ashore to Dover harbour in a small and rapidly sinking boat. Escaping the freezing English winter waters they swam to shore, climbing up onto the pebbled beach beneath the symbolic white cliffs. Armed with boomerangs and the Aboriginal flag they took hold and claimed the United Kingdom as Aboriginal Land, on behalf of all Aboriginal people....read more..." 

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2021 is our 30th year of exhibiting Native art in the UK and with your help we can continue to ensure Indigenous representation here. Many of you have shared in the exhibitions and events that we have worked hard to offer, free of charge, for many years. It takes just a minute of your time to show your support for the work we do.

Heartfelt thanks to those of you who have already generously donated.

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