Making ‘Yaa Asantewaa Inspecting the Dispositions at Ejisu’

Making ‘Yaa Asantewaa Inspecting the Dispositions at Ejisu’ was an illustrated lecture for the seminar 'Revisiting Picturing Blackness' organised by the British Art Network in 2016. Although the venue was initially advertised as Tate Britain, in fact the event was held on 4th April in the Banqueting Suite at Chelsea College of Arts, UAL.

Programme Introductory text:

'From November 1995 to March 1996 the Tate Gallery (now Tate Britain) hosted a small display called Picturing Blackness in British Art 1700s – 1990s. Selected by the renowned cultural studies scholar Paul Gilroy as guest curator, and Tate curator Virginia Button, it featured fourteen works of art mostly drawn from the Tate Collection, juxtaposing images from across two centuries, from Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723 – 1792) to F N Souza (1924 – 2002), Lubaina Himid (b. 1954) and Sonia Boyce (b. 1962).

The aim, according to Gilroy’s exhibition text, was to address some of the “myths of Britishness” and show how 'racial differences have been a persistent feature of artistic expression' and that 'the complex and shifting symbolism of ‘race’ has been important to several generations of artists'.

Despite its modest size, the display had a significant impact, and has emerged as a key reference point for thinking about the challenges to art history, curatorial practice and exhibition histories of dealing with 'the image of the black' in British art.

Twenty years on, this one day British Art Network workshop will reflect on the display, its controversial reception, and its legacy, while also addressing larger questions around the representation of 'blackness' and the black figure in British art, historically and in contemporary culture. The day will involve academic presentations, workshop sessions in Tate Britain, and a panel discussion featuring the curators of the original display, Paul Gilroy and Virginia Button'

My lecture addressed the theme of the seminar through an analysis of the content and context of my 2012 and 2014 paintings which are both called 'Yaa Asantewaa Inspecting the Dispositions at Ejisu’. See the attached programme for full details of the event.