GoMA: Revisiting Black Artists in
Scotland Through New Collecting

Barby Asante, Tam Joseph, Donald Locke, Maud Sulter, Lisandro Suriel, Alberta Whittle, Aubrey Williams, Matthew Arthur Williams, Ajamu X

Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow

12 March - 3 July 2022
Free to All, No Booking Required
Monday-Thursday, Saturday: 10am-5pm; Friday and Sunday: 11am-5pm

Download the Exhibition Handout Here

‘Revisiting the Work of Black Artists in Scotland Through New Collecting’ showcases artworks which have entered into the collection of Glasgow Museums, co-curated by GoMA and independent curatorial duo Mother Tongue.

Since 2012, Mother Tongue has been responding – through exhibitions, texts and events – to the whiteness of existing Scottish art history narratives. Following research in archives and collections, they continue to compile a chronology of Black-Scottish artists, from the 1860s onwards, who lived, studied, travelled through and exhibited in Scotland. Many of the artists included within this narrative did not stay permanently, one factor in the lack of local recognition experienced by many Black artists included in this project, with their time in Scotland largely omitted from Black-British art histories.

In 2018, Mother Tongue proposed a research affiliation with GoMA primarily to highlight existing work by Black artists in the city’s collection. From that work, Mother Tongue proposed a series of new acquisitions made between 1963 and 2019. The works on show include moving image, photography, painting and ceramics, reflecting complex dialogues around race, post-colonial legacies, Empire and independence, each work bringing with them wider socio-political narratives. These, alongside a newly-commissioned moving image work from Barby Asante, have been made possible by support from Art Fund’s New Collecting Award.

The works on show span a 60-year period, and include moving image, photography, painting and ceramics. They reflect complex dialogues around race, post-colonial legacies, Empire and independence through the acquisitions, each of which brings with them wider socio-political narratives. Mother Tongue were awarded an Art Fund New Collecting Award in 2018 in affiliation with Glasgow Museums. These awards offer 100% funding for focused collecting projects, enabling curators to expand collections into exciting new areas or deepen existing holdings in significant new ways.

Mother Tongue were awarded an Art Fund New Collecting Award in 2018 in affiliation with Glasgow Museums. These awards offer 100% funding for focused collecting projects, enabling curators to expand collections into exciting new areas or deepen existing holdings in significant new ways. For further information on the scheme, please click here.

Please check the Mother Tongue Linktree during the run of the exhibition for further resources and reading materials.

Acknowledgements

Mother Tongue and Glasgow Museums are grateful to the Art Fund and National Fund for Acquisitions for their financial support of the project; Professor Lubaina Himid CBE RA for her mentorship, the organisational cohort of Tilting Axis, and Deborah Cherry, Ama Sulter, Brenda Locke, Maridowa Williams and Lisandro Suriel for their support in realising generous gifts to the collection. Glasgow Museums would like to thank all the artists and artist estates, EVM, Lydienne Albertoe, Aqsa Arif, Adrian Murray, AL Sillars, and Calum Stirling for their support of the exhibition throughout the pandemic.

For support of the research which facilitated this project, Mother Tongue would like to thank The Paul Mellon Centre for British Studies in Art, London, British Council Scotland, Terra Foundation for American Art and the Hauser & Wirth Institute NY. These grants facilitated research in the National Records of Scotland; the National Library of Scotland; the George Padmore Institute, North London; the Centre for Research Collections at the University of Edinburgh; and the studio and estate of Donald Locke, Atlanta, which would not have been possible otherwise.

Additional thanks go to: Corinne Locke, Jonathan Locke, Hew Locke, Indra Khana, October Gallery, Richard Demarco, Variant magazine, Kerry Watson, Mairi Lafferty, Rachel Hosker, Ingrid Pollard, Eddie Chambers, Emma Coleman, Kenneth Ramchand, Gillian Ramchand, Anne Walmsley, Karina Williamson, Alberta Whittle and family.

All images © Glasgow Museums.