Gay black history in London

Black Pride: A history of black LGBT in the capital

A small exhibition Outside Edge opens at Museum in Docklands on 7 February 2008 and is a journey through black British lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) history of the last 30 years. The black LGBT community has been vibrantly active for a long time but has not always been well represented culturally. This display, which opens during LGBT History Month, seeks to redress the balance and acknowledge the presence of the black LGBT community.

A study day is being held in conjunction with the display on Saturday 23 February and will explore London's black LGBT history through talks, discussion and debate with Ajamu from rukus! Lynette Goddard, Historian and Steven G Fullwood, project director of Black, Gay and Lesbian Archive, New York.

Museum in Docklands has worked closely with Ajamu, an internationally acclaimed photographer and co-founder of rukus! Federation and the rukus! black LGBT archive, to create a display which publicly commemorates the people and events that have shaped the lives of black LGBT. From the colourful, pop filled 80s with an emerging marginalised group in search of a voice to the post-millenial noughties where the activism had begun to pay off and there were openly gay black artists such as David McAlmont, Labi Siffre and Skin from Skunk Anansie, establishing themselves in the arenas of music, fashion and theatre.

Ajamu, co-curator of Outside Edge displays says: 'This has been a wonderful opportunity to develop our community outreach programme and create an equitable partnership with a mainstream organisation. London has always been a rich culturally diverse city and black LGBT history, heritage and lived experiences have been an integral part of this rich tapestry.'

The display showcases dazzling theatre posters, dramatic leaflets and badges and dynamic artwork for album covers and club flyers. Film footage, extracts from The Guardian and The Voice newspapers, alongside music lyrics reinforces the experiences of the black LGBT community as they struggled to make themselves visible and battle against the exclusion they felt from both lesbian and gay (predominantly white) and black (predominantly heterosexual) events.

David Spence, Director of Museum in Docklands says: 'Once again we are revealing an untold history and telling the story of those that have struggled for equality, a theme shared with the recently opened London, Sugar & Slavery gallery. Londoners from all backgrounds will find this display informative and engaging.'

Outside Edge looks at the strong black LGBT community and their campaign to establish themselves as part of a wider community, no longer positioned on the outside.

Notes

The exhibition is co-curated by Ajamu, co-founder of the rukus! Federation, which supports the work of black LGBT artists and other cultural producers in the UK and abroad.

The rukus! black LGBT Archive was launched in 2005. Its aim is to collect, preserve, exhibit, and make otherwise available to the public historical, cultural, and artistic materials related to the black LGBT communities in the United Kingdom.

Museum in Docklands explores London's connections with the world through the 2000 year history of the river, port and people. Across four floors of interactive displays the Museum's unique collection takes you on a journey through stories of the Thames and surrounding areas from Roman settlement, the transatlantic slave trade and war to 21st century urban regeneration. A changing programme of activities caters for visitors of all ages and includes gallery tours, storytelling, drama, talks by historians, films and guided walks through Docklands. The Museum opened in 2003 and is a short walk along West
India Quay from the Docklands Light Railway or ten minutes from Canary Wharf underground station on the Jubilee Line.

www.untoldlondon.org.uk this website about diverse history of London will feature an in-depth feature on Rukus to launch it's LGBT section. This feature will be available for re-publication on request from 22 January. A selection of press images of Outside Edge can also be viewed here and high res images will be sent on request. Audio files of vox pops from the launch event will be available to download from 9th February and the study day will be digitally archived on the site.