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What came first, the Black or the Arts? An autoethnography

Sobers, Shawn

Authors

Shawn Sobers Shawn.Sobers@uwe.ac.uk
Professor of Cultural Interdisciplinary Practice



Abstract

This highly personal paper will discuss what inspired me about the Black Arts Movement and the critical decade’, and how has it continued to influence my arts practice and thinking.

Growing up in Bath in the 80s, leaving school in 1988 aged 16 to go to art college, the Black Arts Movement was slightly beyond my reach and scope when it was happening at the time, with me first encountering it in 1992 when I bought a copy of ‘Ten 8: Critical Decade – Black British photography in the 80s’, when I was already at university. Going to art school because it was the only thing I felt I was good at, maturing in the early 90s as my platform to ‘say something’, in the light of my personal growth of awareness of my identity as a Black male. In that context, ‘Ten 8: Critical Decade’ became my Bible. The critical decade of the 80s became my creative fuel in the 90s, informing my photography and film discourse mixed with the politics of conscious American Hip Hop of the time such as KRS One and Public Enemy. During my time at university Eddie Chambers contributed some work to a film I was making and became a friend, and the work of the Black Art Movement has continued to inspire my motivation as an artist and as a frame of reference for my values, even when working on projects which are not (quote unquote) “Black”.

This paper is my personal homage to the pioneers of the Black Arts Movement who paved the way for me to find confidence in my ‘Black voice’, and the relevance of the work of the critical decade today, and how, as an educator, it is a fuel I see that is still needed and a vital voice in contemporary creative arts discourse.

Citation

Sobers, S. (2016, March). What came first, the Black or the Arts? An autoethnography. Paper presented at Framing the Critical Decade: After the Black Arts Movement, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK

Presentation Conference Type Conference Paper (unpublished)
Conference Name Framing the Critical Decade: After the Black Arts Movement
Conference Location University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
Start Date Mar 21, 2016
End Date Mar 22, 2016
Acceptance Date Jan 12, 2016
Publication Date Jan 1, 2016
Peer Reviewed Not Peer Reviewed
Keywords british black arts, photography, filmmaking, shawn sobers, critical decade
Public URL https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/923544
Publisher URL https://framingthecriticaldecade.wordpress.com/
Additional Information Title of Conference or Conference Proceedings : Framing the Critical Decade: After the Black Arts Movement