Young Men on a Seesaw in Handsworth Park 1984, by Vanley Burke

Art and culture are things that excite me when travelling, and I sometimes book trips based on exhibitions. Art was often a way to escape, and I love getting into the mind of others and seeing how artists interpret the past or current events taking place in the world. In 2022, I had the pleasure of visiting three exhibitions, two in London and one in Copenhagen, all of which referenced the black experience from different lenses, cultures and times.

Life Between Islands at the Tate Gallery

Denzil Forrester *Jah Shaka* 1983 Collection Shane Akeroyd, London © Denzil Forrester, courtesy of Stephen Friedman Gallery

I was excited to see this exhibition as it felt like a timeline of my family history from a cultural perspective. I'm of Jamaican heritage, and my grandparents moved to the UK in the 1950s for better opportunities and to raise eight children in East London. So, as a second-generation British national, my identity is very much bi-cultural, and the exhibition mapped the Black British experience poetically.

The exhibition celebrated 70 years of Caribbean art. It started with timely events in the UK, like the arrival of Caribbean people to British soil, the Stephen Lawrence case and more, to help attendees fully understand the context of what was taking place at the time. Community is a theme that resonated powerfully in many spaces—finding community in being ostracized, belonging, food, and culture. Resilience among pressures from post-colonialism was also evident, documented via photos, videos, art and other mediums.

Some of the art featured immediately transported me back to being at my grandparent's house, such as the standard front room of a Caribbean person's home. Features such as the doily on the sofa, pictures on the wall and patterned wallpaper were also evident on both sides of my family.

Over 40 artists had their work featured, including Aubrey Williams, Donald Locke, Horace Ové, Sonia Boyce, Claudette Johnson, Peter Doig, Hurvin Anderson, Grace Wales Bonner and Alberta Whittle.

Jaiwana Monaghan | Credit: Â©Tate (Jaiwana Monaghan) 2021. Copyright: Photo © Tate 2021

Archives in the Tongue: A Litany of Freedoms at Kunsthal Charlottenborg

Jeannette Ehlers, Until the Lion, 2021. Installation view, Archives in the Tongue: A Litany of Freedoms, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, 2022. Photo by David Stjernholm.

In the summer of 2022, we got to experience Jeannette Ehler's major solo show at Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Copenhagen. I use the word 'experience' purposefully, as various mediums captured the sheer essence of Afro-Caribbean culture, with the mythical Moko figure on video greeting attendees as they entered the exhibition space. Moko travelled the Atlantic from West Africa to the Caribbean to protect the care of its people. In the exhibition, Ehler also protects only she protects the truth.

A spiritual element resonates as you sweep the different rooms to view installations or listen to audio clips. I found it quite emotional and overwhelming, based on being confronted by such a brutal yet beautiful narrative around survival and resistance in the face of adversity. During the exhibition, black and brown braids lined the leafy walls of the art gallery; telling the story of how enslaved women of African descent in South America and the Caribbean used braiding styles such as cornrows to map escape routes.

One installation named, In The Time of Ongoing War, Can We Flee into Each Other? featured braids like a noose. Whilst another was a room made up of braids intertwined like a maze. The complexity of identity, survival, community, and more was emotional, thought-provoking, and vivid. This was an exhibition where you couldn't shy from historical truths.

Jeannette Ehlers, We’re Magic We’re Real #3 (These Walls), 2021 Detail from performance work Photo © Charleen Parkes

Jeannette Ehlers, In The Time of Ongoing War, Can We Flee into Each Other? 2022. Photo © Travel & Lust

The New Black Vanguard at the Saatchi Gallery

The New Black Vanguard, curated by American writer and critic Antwaun Sargent, has been on tour for several years and started in New York. The exhibition features 15 international Black photographers that reframe the black identity and aesthetic. Art, fashion and culture are at the forefront of the cutting-edge exhibition exploring works from black stylists, makeup artists and creative directors to celebrate black excellence and creativity.

"This exhibition is an exploration of this generation's Black image makers who are bringing fresh perspective to photography. Image by image, they have created a loose global network around their art that powerfully centres identity, community and desire. The artists in this show profoundly reanimate the possibilities of contemporary photography." - Antwaun Sargent.

What stood out to me was this sense of reclamation, which vividly showcased the black identity from various perspectives within the community. I found it vibrant, challenging and uplifting - a space with possibilities and a timeline where creatives have created a sense of change. Works from Teen Vogue stylists to photographers such as Tyler Mitchell, Ruth Ossai and Micaiah Carter tell stories in their styling, composition and art direction.