black art

   Naseem Khan’s 1976 survey of the cultural activities of ethnic minorities in Britain revealed that little financial support was provided by official bodies. This led to the establishment in London of the Minority Arts Advisory Service (MAAS) and its inter-cultural magazine Artrage. The term ‘black art’ most helpfully identifies work which draws upon the experience of black individuals and communities in Western societies, such as the 1977 mixed media performance by Rasheed Araeen called ‘Paki Bastard—portrait of the artist as a black person’. However some ‘black artists’ object to the term, and to ‘ethnic’ or ‘minority’ art, on the grounds that it encourages ghettoizing and the frequent assumption that they will produce work that is both outside the mainstream and also redolent of their ethnic background. A large number of black artists in the 1970s and 1980s became familiar names in the art world, including Frank Bowling, Gavin Jantjes, Sokari Douglas Camp, Lubiana Himid, Marlene Smith, Sonia Boyce and Keith Piper. Several new magazines (such as Black Phoenix and Black Arts in London) were also founded at this time, and galleries opened (Black Arts Gallery and Creation for Liberation, both in 1983). Important initiatives in film were the Black Audio Film Collective and True Corner Productions, an independent black film company established by Rosemary Boateng, sister of the Labour MP Paul Boateng.

   See also: black television; black theatre

   PETER CHILDS