Arts and Cultural platform

Some background on thenublack
In October of 2008, Graphic designer Gabrielle Smith set herself a challenge to blog about contemporary culture of the African Diaspora as a new approach to celebrating Black History Month in the UK. Through photographs, news articles, video, and profiles of young creatives, thenublack was formed.

Thenublack celebrates the talents of her generation – those born to parents of African descent within the Diaspora. Gabrielle says:

“I am driven by my passion for the creative arts, and to share with my readership the things I love the most about a generation of young people who have a rich cultural past – all from a creative viewpoint.”

Working as a creative in a professional environment, she thrives on connecting with young artists and being able to showcase their work online.

The Exhibition
2010 will be the second year since thenublack was founded, and so to celebrate this as well as UK Black History Month, Gabrielle will be curating an art exhibition to display pieces of work from a range of contemporary artists of African descent. In addition to the show, each week on the blog, a young creative will be featured by way of a Q&A interview, as well as a display of pieces of their work. The online content will encourage wider audience engagement and discussion.

If you would like to exhibit your work, or for more information, please contact: hello@iamthenublack.com. Alternatively VISIT THE BLOG HERE.

Ayuba Suleiman Diallo, also known as Job ben Solomon by William Hoare of Bath, 1733 © Christie’s Images Limited

The National Portrait Gallery in London has launched an appeal to save this rare early 18th century portrait of a Gambian, muslim intellectual named Ayuba Suleiman Diallo, for the nation. This will ensure that the history of Britain, and the African presence and contribution to British society, is documented in IMAGE as well as in text. Because the painting has historic significance, there’s an export embargo until the 25th August 2010, to enable the raising of £100,000 to keep it in the UK – A fifth of the total cost which has been raised by the National Portrait Gallery and other funding sources. More information about the painting and ways in which you can provide a donation can be found on the National Portrait Gallery Website. Donate if you can!

NO SOUL FOR SALE
Tate Modern, London. 14-16 May 2010.
In celebration of Tate Modern’s 10th anniversary, 70 independent art groups transform the Turbine Hall into a festival of cutting-edge creativity. For more information visit their WEBSITE.

TED TALK: Elizabeth Gilbert on Creativity

“Don’t be afraid, don’t be daunted. Just do your job. Continue to show up for your piece of it, whatever that might be. If your job is to dance, do your dance. If the divine cock-eyed genius assigned to your case decides to let some sort of wonderment be glimpsed for just one moment through your efforts, then Ole! And if not, do your dance anyhow, and Ole! to you nonetheless…just for having the sheer human love and stubbornness to keep showing up.”

” Face to Face: The African Presence in Renaissance Europe, an unprecedented exhibition, explores the world of Renaissance art in Europe to bring to life the hidden African presence in its midst. During the first half of the 1500s, Africa became a focus of European attention as it had not been since the time of the Roman Empire. The European thirst for new markets drove a consolidation of the trading routes established by Portuguese explorers in the late 1490s along the coasts of Africa and into the Indian Ocean. At the same time, the expansion of the Ottoman Empire in North Africa brought the Turks into military and political conflict with European interests. These elements, along with the importation of captured Africans as slaves, primarily from West Africa, increasingly supplanting the trade of slaves of Slavic origin, resulted in an increased African presence in Europe.”

Visit the WALTERS ART MUSEUM Website to find out more!

Columbian artist Doris Salcedo talks about the themes and ideas explored by her work Shibboleth – a huge crack produced in the floor of the Turbine Hall at Tate Modern in 2008:

“The presence of the immigrant is always unwelcome. The presence of the immigrant is seen as jeopardising the culture of Europe. Europe is being seen as a homogenous society, a democratic society, that has learned through centuries of development, has learned to solve issues through dialogue…And if that is the case, then where to we place these outbreaks of racial hatred?… Its a piece that is both in the epicentre of catastrophe and at the same time, it is outside catastrophe…” - Doris Salcedo

In conjunction with the exhibition Burning Down the House: Building a Feminist Art Collection in the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art, artist Carrie Mae Weems discusses her work and its feminist themes.

Find out more about the Burning Down the House exhibition

Artist Kehinde Wiley speaks about his work on Bloomburg’s arts programme, Muse:

“My work isn’t necessarily driven by a desire to create a corrective, but I think a corrective is ultimately what comes out of it. What comes out if it is the portrait of a young African American male in a world, in a tradition, in a society, in which visibility is not necessarily the case.” - Kehinde Wiley

Visit Kehinde Wiley’s website to see more of his works and watch other videos

A panoramic view the exhibit Through the Eyes of Others: African Americans and Identity in American Art by Professor Gretchen Sorin at the Fenimore Art Museum, in Cooperstown, New York.