Vanley Burke— By The Rivers of Birminam
26 July 2013 - 12 October 2013
Departure Lounge is delighted to present By the Rivers of Birminam– the first retrospective exhibition by Vanley Burke one of the UK’s most prolific black photographers.
The exhibition brings together 100 images, which explore the history of the Caribbean community in Birmingham from 1967 to the present. The exhibition represents what is arguably the greatest photographic document of Caribbean people in post-war Britain, presenting in intimate detail this community's experience in the UK.
Shot entirely in black-and-white, this careful and considered collection of photographs concentrates on the intelligence, beauty, the sense of community, the churches and family values, as well as the political, emotional and spiritual contexts that have united Birmingham’s (and more widely the UK’s) black communities since the mid 1960s.
Exhibition curator Lynda Morris, a Senior Lecturer at Norwich University College of the Arts commented, “Vanley Burke’s connection with the subject has allowed him to depict the immigration of the Caribbean community to Great Britain in a way which is unparallelled. Nowhere can tell this story better than Birmingham and Vanley Burke is the photographer who was there and who knew he was living through a great moent in history.”
By the Rivers of Birmingham is a touring exhibition from mac Birmingham. The exhibition has received funding from Arts Council England and the Roughley Trust, and is supported by Norwich University College of the Arts. This is the fourth major exhibition facilitated by Departure Lounge that has brought international contemporary art to Luton for the first time.
