The Urgency of Now

"The Urgency of Now' considers the curatorial strategies, approaches and narratives of 4 exhibitions showcasing Black art of the 1980s, held in the Netherlands at the Van Abbemuseum (2016) and the UK at Nottingham Contemporary , MIMA and South London Gallery (2017). The chapter reflects on the selection of artists, art works, documentation and archives across the four iterations. It interrogates the curators's concept of montage, its definitions and flexibility over the life-span of the project. Sidestepping a survey or overview approach this curatorial concept foregrounded the significance of montage as a defining and shared artistic practice across many different media. Reflecting on the curatorial conversations staged between art works and art and archives and the value of thematic sections, the chapter highlights the recent focus on the aesthetics alongside the politics of this visually arresting and challenging moment.

Building on the pioneering research of Paul Goodwin, David Dibosa and the AHRC research project Black Artists and Modernism, directed by Professor Sonia Boyce, this chapter situates The Place is Here within recent histories of exhibitions and displays focusing on Black art of the 1980s, from Sheffield Museums in collaboration with the BLK Art Group, No Colour Bar at Guildhall Art Gallery London to Rahul Patel's archival reprise of The Devils Feast at Chelsea awe well as Paul Goodwin’s initiatives at Tate Britain, including Thin Black Line(s) (co-curated by Lubaina Himid) and ‘New Diasporic Voices’, the final section of Migrations: Journeys into British Art.