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PhD Position Black Curating and Institutional Change, Coventry University
Coventry University
Application deadline: Dec 11, 2020 Carolina Rito
AHRC Midlands4Cities PhD Funding for UK and International Applicants is looking for PhD applica- tions for the project Black Curating and Institutional Change: The Black Arts Movement in Coven- try.
Note: This opportunity encourages applications from Black, Asian and minority ethnic researchers in the arts, curating and exhibition studies.
The PhD project aims to investigate the understudied curatorial framework of the British Black Art Movement (BAM) in the 1980s and the role of the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum (the Herbert) in promoting and supporting the movement. The birth of the BAM in the early 1980s is responsible for a paradigm shift in UK art history, bringing to the fore the issues, practices and aesthetics of a marginalised group of artists. Despite the numerous attempts to mitigate systemic racism (e.g., Equality Act 2010 with changes in policy), inequality in British society is still prevalent. The inequal- ities in the representation of Black art history in the British context have come to the fore in the recent months, with the debates around the killing of George Floyd in the US, the Black Lives Mat- ter demands for justice, and the toppling of the statue of slave trader Edward Colston. However, despite some research on the BAM, the role of visual art institutions in the BAM in the 1980s remains understudied, especially the role of the Herbert, which provided a pioneering support to the movement in its awakening, organising one of the first exhibitions in the country in 1983.
In preparation for the 40th anniversary of the foundational event of the BAM, the First Black Art Convention (1982) in Wolverhampton, this project aims to revisit the region’s unique and exceptio- nal role in the development of the Black art scene, with a focus on the overlooked central role of the Herbert and Coventry-based community groups (e.g., West Indian Club). The movement’s his- tory and aesthetic contributions to the art scene in the UK have been explored in scholarly work, including Black Artists in British Art (Chambers 1988); and, more recently, in 2016-2019, artist and researcher Sonia Boyce led an investigation on how artists of African and Asian descent in Britain feature in the twentieth century art history. However, the relevance of the movement and its lega- cy is still underrepresented in the Midlands art scene, in its visual arts institutions’ identities, and in research on Black art curation. This project will contribute to fullfill the research gap on the Bri- tish BAM, and Black curation in the Midlands. Moreover, together with other projects in the Centre for Arts Memory and Communities, this PhD promotes change of attitudes, in the region and its institutions, towards a more inclusive academia and cultural sector; and a research focus and expertise on decolonial and Black studies.
ArtHist.net
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Given the Herbert’s exceptional BAM legacy and long-standing curatorial expertise, the collabora- tion between CAMC and this institution is highly beneficial to the project and creates a unique research ecology. The collaboration provides access to the staff expertise (exhibition making, pro- gramming, event organising) not available in academia, to curatorial training/mentorship, and to the understudied BAM archives at the Herbert. The candidate will also have the opportunity to par- ticipate in the delivery of cultural events and exhibitions, to programme research-related activities, and be part of the curatorial team for the duration of the placement (12months). In working with an industry partner, the candidate will also benefit from the partner’s wide-ranging networks, which will support the dissemination of the PhD research and enhance future employability.
We invite initial 300-word expressions of interests by December 11, 2020 to ad3992@coven- try.ac.uk and ab1248@coventry.ac.uk.
The deadline for M4C funding applications is 13 January 2021 (noon), by which time applicants must have applied for a place to study and have ensured that two academic references are sub- mitted using the Midlands4Cities online reference form.
For full details of eligibility, funding, research supervision areas and CDA projects, and for dates of our November application writing workshops, please visit: https://www.midlands4cities.ac.uk/ or contact enquiries@midlands4cities.ac.uk
Lead HEI Supervisor: Prof Carolina Rito
Lead HEI Supervisor Email: ad3992@coventry.ac.uk
CAMC wesbite: https://www.coventry.ac.uk/research/areas-of-research/centre-for-arts-memo- ry-and-communities/
Midlands4Cities website: https://www.midlands4cities.ac.uk/find-a-project/
Reference:
STIP: PhD Position Black Curating and Institutional Change, Coventry University. In: ArtHist.net, Oct 30, 2020 (accessed Feb 27, 2022), <https://arthist.net/archive/23807>.
