Full Description
Grassroots Artmaking is a pioneering, open-access historical survey that compiles diverse studies, artist interviews, case studies, and roundtable discussions to explore how UK-based art activism has moulded contemporary art over six decades. Addressing political turmoil in the UK since the 1960s, marked by racist immigration laws, far-right ascent, nuclear proliferation, gender oppression and Thatcher's governance, this timely book traces the evolution of grassroots artistic self-organization as a means of resistance. From artist-led initiatives like the Caribbean Artists Movement and the Blk Arts Group, to AIDS activist visual production and community photography initiatives, it showcases a vital strand of British art history beyond mainstream institutions and geographic centres.
Contextualizing the importance of this work in relation to recent seismic events such as austerity, Brexit, Covid, Grenfell, and BLM, the book brings contemporary and historical realities into dialogue with a uniquely cross-media perspective, covering photography and film-making, as well as multiple forms of organizing and artistic practice; from curating, archiving, and administration, to studio management, poster production and institution building.
Richly illustrated with archival material from a wide range of sources, Grassroots Artmaking provides a lively, visually enticing account of the formative connections between grassroots activism and art practice. It lays the groundwork for a new approach to teaching modern and contemporary British art histories and will serve as an indispensable tool for researchers and artists alike.
The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by UKRI.
Contents
Acknowledgements
List of Illustrations
Notes on Contributors
Introduction: Art and Visual Culture from the Grassroots, Maryam Ohadi-Hamadani (University of Edinburgh, UK), Amy Tobin (University of Cambridge, UK), and Catherine Spencer (University of St Andrews, UK)
1. Visualizing Resistance in Horace Ové's Pressure and Franco Rosso's Mangrove Nine, Maryam Ohadi-Hamadani (University of Edinburgh, UK)
2. 'The art, the politics, the desire to question tradition': in conversation with Lynn MacRitchie, Amy Tobin (University of Cambridge, UK), with Catherine Spencer (University of St Andrews, UK) and Maryam Ohadi-Hamadani (University of Edinburgh, UK)
3. Framing a Slide Registry: Towards a History of the Women Artists Slide Library, Lily Evans-Hill (Courtauld Institute of Art, UK)
4. Putting out (bins) filling in (history): in conversation with Shirley Read, Naomi Pearce (Writer and Curator, UK)
5. Artists for Society, Society for Artists: The Artists' Union (1972-1983), Neylan Bagcioglu Izgi (University of Cambridge, UK)
6. From Theory to Therapy: Jo Spence, Simon Watney and the Interdependency of Breast Cancer and HIV/AIDS, Jackson Davidow (Harvard Art Museums, USA)
7. United We Fall: Stephen Dwoskin, Allan Sutherland and Disablement on Film, Henry K. Miller (University College London, UK)
8. Early Imagery of AIDS in the UK: The Visual Culture of 'Policy from Below', Theo Gordon (University of York, UK)
9. The St Matthew's Photo Workshop: Photography and the Politics of Space in 1970s Cambridge, Lucy Howie (University of St Andrews, UK) and Alina Khakoo (University of Cambridge, UK)
10. Archives and Endurance: A Roundtable Discussion
Mora J. Beauchamp-Byrd, Catherine Grant, Alexandra Kokoli, Na'ama Klorman-Eraqi, Jennifer Sarathy, Gregory Salter, Al-An deSouza, Ed Webb-Ingall
11. A Dialogue, Christie Costello (University of Cambridge, UK) and Lola Olufemi (The Stuart Hall Foundation, CREAM and Westminster School of Arts, UK)
12. The Status and Future of Queer Photography in Britain in the Eighties, Restaging Creative Camera's 1986 roundtable (Ajamu X, Emily Andersen, Rosy Martin, Del LaGrace Volcano, and Simon Watney), Flora Dunster (Researcher and Curator, UK)
13. From Collectives to Institution: Three Transformative Moments that shaped Autograph ABP, Taous R. Dahmani (Panthéon-Sorbonne University, France)
14. Sugar, Flour, Petrol: Civil Rights and Filmic Memory in Northern Ireland, Catherine Spencer (University of St Andrews, UK)
15. Power in Numbers: Black British Artist Groups, Collectives and Networks since the 1960s, Anjalie Dalal-Clayton (University of the Arts London, UK)
Index
