Reading Collections, the reading group focusing on the African-Caribbean, Asian & African Art in Britain Archive, part of the Special Collections at Chelsea College of Arts Library, will held its fourth meeting today 16.05.2018 at LCF Room JPS 415 A&B.

The reading group is led by Rahul Patel, Associate Lecturer, and Gustavo Grandal Montero, Academic Support Librarian.

Open to all UAL students and staff, participants are expected to read short texts/documents provided in advance, and be prepared to join in short readings and group discussions. The reading group welcomes students of any course and any academic level, and is bookable through Academic Support Online.

All the readings are taken from the Archive, and participants will gain an understanding of the reasons for its establishment, its content, and the significance of primary documentation and its curation in relation to the representation of potentially marginalised groups. They represent critical arguments, and relate to important exhibitions, publications and other interventions in Black British art in the 1980s. Participants get a chance to learn more about existing primary source materials and the range of possibilities of research into Black British art in the 1980s.

Session Four

The Devils Feast, Chelsea School of Art Gallery, 1987

Date: 16th May 2018

Venue: London College of Fashion (Room JPS 415 A&B)

Text/ Documents:

• The Devils Feast exhibition catalogue. Introduction text by Zarina Bhimji, Chila Burman, Jennifer Comrie, Allan de Souza, Keith Piper and Donald Rodney.

The Devils Feast catalogue and invitation card.

Session Five

Gavin Jantjes at Visual art documentation for a multi-cultural society, 1983

Date: 4th July 2018

Venue: Chelsea College of Arts Library, Special Collections Room

Text/ Documents:

• Jantjes, G. “The words about us”, Arts Libraries Journal, v. 8, n. 4 (Winter 1983), p. 14-22. Revised version of a paper delivered at the ARLIS/UK event ‘Visual art documentation for a multi-cultural society’, Commonwealth Institute, London, in Nov. 1983.

Previous sessions:

Recordings: a select bibliography of contemporary African, Afro-Caribbean and Asian British art

Date: 8th November 2017, 5pm to 7pm

Venue: Chelsea College of Arts

Texts/ Documents:

• Keen, M. and Ward, E. (eds.) Recordings: a select bibliography of contemporary African, Afro-Caribbean and Asian British art. London: INIVA and Chelsea College of Art & Design, 1996. “Recordings: an introduction, Melanie Keen” (p. 1-7)

The First National Black Art Convention, 1982

Date: 17th January 2018

Venue: Central Saint Martins

Texts/ Documents:

• Selection of documents from the conference held at Wolverhampton Polytechnic in Oct. 1982 (poster, open call, programme).

The Thin Black Line, ICA, 1985

Date: 14th March 2018

Venue: London College of Communication

Text/ Documents:

• The Thin Black Line exhibition catalogue. Texts by Lubaina Himid and Chila Burman.

You can read a review of The Reading Collections: The African-Caribbean, Asian, and African Art in Britain Archive: Session Three – The Thin Black Line by Rayvenn Shaleigha D’Clark in Shades of Noir