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Intergenerational dialogues: A reflection on the role of photography, drawing and material culture in the ritual of Black everyday life

Sobers, Shawn

Authors

Shawn Sobers



Contributors

Dorothy Price
Editor

Elizabeth Robles
Editor

Abstract

This chapter explores the dynamics of second generation Black British artists working with the stories of their parent’s generation that came over to Britain from the Caribbean in the 1960s. The research broadens out to discuss other forms of work that honour previous generations and the deceased, and how such works are used in the grieving process. I draw on my personal experience of intergenerational creative practice, and also the work of others in the Bath and Bristol region of England.

I argue that such works are forms of ritual, and discuss them through the lens of certain African cultural and religious practices and beliefs. The rationale of this methodology is to inject an African-centric discourse to the habits of everyday Black life and creative arts practice, especially when talking about ‘Black Arts’, which I find is often discussed disconnected from African continent sensibilities.

The study draws on a wide range of disciplines and discourses, including African philosophy, anthropology, photography, cultural studies, and Rastafari studies. Throughout this chapter I make reference to artists as researchers, recognising that when working on historical subject matter that is in part what the artist becomes with some shared methodologies (Powdermaker, 1966: 298). The aim of this study is not to suggest that Black artists do their
practice differently than others, (with some inherent spiritual connection with the mother continent), but rather to recognise an African way of viewing some of the everyday things we do in the West, and consider them through an African frame of reference that is seldom highlighted.

The Black Arts Movement has a tradition very much rooted in the Black British experience, and this sensibility is hopefully the heartbeat of this chapter. I do argue however
that part of that tradition is a tacit African connection that gets little attention, and this is my attempt to cast a humble thread from ‘here’ to ‘there’, to make a link to forebears and ancestors who paved this way before.

Reference:

Powdermaker, H. (1966), Stranger and Friend: The Way of the Anthropologist, W.W.
Norton, N.Y.

Citation

Sobers, S. Intergenerational dialogues: A reflection on the role of photography, drawing and material culture in the ritual of Black everyday life. In E. Robles, & D. Price (Eds.), Transnational Culture: Framing the Critical Decade. Peter Lang Publication. Manuscript submitted for publication

Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Book Title Transnational Culture: Framing the Critical Decade
Keywords everyday life, intergenerational, black everyday life, photography, material culture, drawing, ritual, African spirituality, diaspora
Public URL https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/903464


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