Race Identity and Representation in Creative Practice

1. Race Identity and Representation in Creative Practice

2. By the end of this session, you should be able to: • Discuss the notion of ‘Identity’ and ‘Representation’ in relation to the creative practice. • Cite some examples of contemporary art and design practitioners who ‘challenge identity’ through their work.

3. i-D and The Face In the early 1980’s New Magazines were published which reflected the postmodern preoccupation of questioning issues related to identity. The importance of the Mass Media as a vehicle for negotiating these ideas cannot be underestimated. This magazine cover is using ‘Celebrity’ to renegotiate issues related to sexuality and taste. Madonna on the front cover of i-D April 1984.

4. Frida KHALO The Two Fridas (1939)

6. Ingrid POLLARD, born 1953. Ingrid Pollard views her series Pastoral Interlude as a critical point in her career, when she first began to articulate her experiences as a black British woman through the conventions of portraiture and landscape photography. Here the loneliness, dread and unease spoken of in the text is conveyed by the sole figure, who is at once trapped by the barbed wire fence and exposed to the endless uninhabited space beyond. Ingrid Pollard is a member of Autograph, the Association of Black Photographers. Ingrid POLLARD Pastoral Interlude, c.1987

7. Yinka SHONIBARE Yinka Shonibare’s sculptural installations use so-called African batik fabrics to subvert conventional readings of cultural identity. Shonibare considers himself ‘truly bi-cultural’ and strives to open up debate about the social, cultural and political issues that shape our histories and construct identity. His works playfully blur the boundaries between stereotypically Western ideas about ‘high’ art and traditional categorisations of ‘African art.’ Yinka Shonibare was born in London in 1962 and moved to the Nigerian capital of Lagos when he was just three years old. He studied at the Byam Shaw School of Art, London in 1984-9 and completed a BA at Goldsmiths College, London in 1991.

8. Fragonard (1766) The Swing. The Wallace Collection Yinka SHONIBARE The Swing , after Fragonard. Turner Prize Entry 2004

9. Chris OFILI Chris Ofili was born in Manchester, England in 1968. From 1988 to 1991 he attended Chelsea School of Art, and continued his studies at the Royal College of Art until 1993. He won the Turner Prize in 1998 for his 'inventiveness, exuberance, humour and technical richness in painting.' Chris Ofili (1998) No woman, no cry Turner Prize Winner 1998

10. Freedom one day T-Shirt, 2002 a collaboration between British fashion designer Joe CASELY-HAYFORD and Chris OFILI. Chris Ofili feels the production of a T-shirt related to his paintings in an exhibition is interesting as it enables ideas to spread in a more casual way. The garment reflects 'ideas of liberation‘. The colours represent the 'African Race‘, Red is the colour of the blood which must be shed for redemption and liberty, Black for the colour of the noble and distinguished race, and Green for the luxuriant vegetation of the African Motherland. Photograph by Eileen PERRIER Untitled from Red, Gold and Green, 1997. Commissioned by Autograph ABP

11. Bruce OLDFIELD with Princess Diana in 1988

12. Oswald BOATENG Savile Row tailor - ‘bespoke couturier’. Ozwald Boateng is widely credited with introducing Savile Row tailoring to a new generation. The first tailor to stage a catwalk show in Paris, Boateng's many clients include Laurence Fishburne, Samuel L. Jackson, Keanu Reeves and Mick Jagger. http://www.ozwaldboateng.co.uk/main.html

13. Films, Plays & Literature • Hanif Kureishi • My Beautiful Launderette; Buddha of Suburbia • Monica Ali • Brick Lane • Ayub Khan-Din • Rafta Rafta • Gurinder Chadha • Bhaji on the Beach; Bend it like Beckham; Bride and Prejudice • Kwame Kwei-Armah • Statement of Regret; Elmina’s Kitchen; Fix up. • Damien O'Donnell • East is East

14. Equality and Human Rights Commision The new commission is working to eliminate discrimination, reduce inequality, protect human rights and to build good relations, ensuring that everyone has a fair chance to participate in society. • http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/Pages/default.aspx

15. Equality Britain • EqualityBritain is an annual directory promoting Equality and Diversity. It has dedicated sections covering employment, education, housing, sport and fostering & adoption. Following from 7 successful years of Ethnic Britain, the aim of EqualityBritain is for a wide cross section of organisations to promote their jobs, courses and services but also to raise their profile within all sections of the community regardless of: • Age • Disability • Gender • Race • Religious Belief • Sexual Orientation • Transgender Status http://www.equalitybritain.co.uk/content/dynamic/contactus.asp

16. Black Cultural & Arts Organizations • http://www.rivingtonplace.org/ • http://www.autograph-abp.co.uk/ • http://www.tara-arts.com/HTML/upcoming.htm

17. Bibliography • CARSON, Fiona & PAJACZKOVSKA, Claire (2000) Feminist Visual Culture. Edinburgh University Press. • DOY, Gen (2000) Black Visual Culture: modernity & postmodernity. London: Tauris • RATCLIFFE, Peter (2004) ‘Race’, Ethnicity and Difference: imagining the inclusive society. Maidenhead: Open University Press.