what is black atlantic?
Black Atlantic is a new decolonial arts partnership, co-established by UCL Sarah Parker Remond Centre, Serpentine Galleries, Royal Court Theatre and Dartington Trust, that aims to strengthen the role of arts and culture in advancing social and climate justice.
Timed to take place just before the intergovernmental climate conference COP26, Sensing the Planet will highlight issues of race and environmental harm as well as the role played by the UK, most prominently the south-west of England, in histories of slavery, empire and climate breakdown. It will also champion the role of interdisciplinary culture in imagining new futures built on principles of sustainability and justice, bringing together leading decolonial thinkers, artists and activists including headline speakers Ruth Wilson Gilmore, Paul Gilroy, Alexis Pauline Gumbs and Philippe Sands.
Jason Singh
programme of events
pier kids [15]
Filmed between 2011 and 2016, it follows Casper, Desean, and Krystal, three homeless queer black youth as they navigate the streets of Manhattan’s Chelsea Piers, welfare, and their biological families in order to find stable housing. Along the way, Bratton brings light to an underground community and what it means to be black and queer in America, 50 years after Stonewall and against a backdrop of police brutality, gentrification and financial precarity.
26 Oct – 3 Nov, various times
Book now
The Stuart Hall Project [12]
Internationally acclaimed artist and documentarian Akomfrah’s (The Nine Muses) vital study of Stuart Hall is a sensitive, emotionally charged portrait of one of Britain’s most celebrated cultural theorists. A founding figure of contemporary cultural studies – and one of the most inspiring voices of the post-war Left – Hall’s resounding, ongoing influence on British intellectual life began soon after his emigration from Jamaica in 1951.
Combining extensive archival footage with new material and a personally mixed Miles Davis soundtrack, Akomfrah’s stirring film mirrors Hall’s agile intellect, playing with memory, identity and scholarship amid the shifting landscape of the second half of the 20th century.
28 Oct-3 Nov, various times
Book now
Summer of soul [12A]
Summer of Soul shines a light on the importance of history to our spiritual well-being and stands as a testament to the healing power of music during times of unrest, both past and present. The feature includes concert performances by Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone, Sly & the Family Stone, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Mahalia Jackson, B.B. King, The 5th Dimension and more.
30 Oct 4 Nov, various times
Book now
previous events
friday 29 – sunday 31 october: sensing the planet symposium
Sensing the Planet was a chance to join leading decolonial thinkers, artists and activists for a truly unique symposium.
Timed to take place just before the intergovernmental climate conference COP26, Sensing the Planet highlighted issues of race and environmental harm as well as the role played by the UK, most prominently the south-west of England, in histories of slavery, empire and climate breakdown. It also championed the role of interdisciplinary artists in imagining new futures built on principles of sustainability and justice.
Earth Talk: Bristol Decolonising Network
7-8pm
course: Decolonising the Curriculum
10am-1pm
workshop: Forensic Architecture
Working at the intersections of technology, political engagement and creative practice, Forensic Architecture (FA) has emerged in recent years as an icon of new possibilities for visualising and prosecuting environmental crimes. Nabil Ahmed and Imani Jacqueline Brown, decolonial artists associated with FA, offer participants an intimate and in-depth insight into the approach, methodologies and practices they have engaged within this field, to offer strategies for naming and evidencing ecocide.
2-6pm
course: Lessons for Liberation
A reflective interspecies writing intensive with queer black troublemaker, Alexis Pauline Gumbs. Participants will experience a set of writing activities based on Alexis’s research into the survival techniques of underwater mammals, documented in her recent book, Undrowned: Black Feminist Lessons from Marine Mammals.
10am-12pm
live music: Shifa + Elaine Mitchener
Shifa, from the Arabic word for healing, is a new trio (Pat Thomas, Rachel Musson and Mark Sanders) born out of old musical partnerships from the ever shifting sands of the UK improvised music scene.
Elaine Mitchener is an experimental vocalist, movement artist and composer, whose work encompasses improvisation, contemporary music theatre and performance art.
8pm – late
Black Atlantic DJ Sessions
8pm – late
Land:Scapes (guided walks)
Follow Jason Singh through the beautiful gardens at Dartington, absorbing sound, shifting gradients, temperature and smell to inspire reflection.
Gagarine [12A]
22-24 Oct, various times
CANDYMAN [15]
26-31 Oct, various times
Burn! [AA]
An agent of the British government, Sir William Walker (Brando) is sent to the fictional 1800s Caribbean island of Queimada for a three-part mission: to trick its enslaved people into revolt, to divert the sugar trade to England, and then return its people to servitude.
Sometimes recalling an Errol Flynn swashbuckler, Burn! nevertheless refuses to shift focus from its primary story: a devastating indictment of imperialistic nations – here, 19th century Portugal and Britain; but by implication, also the United States, and the country’s contemporaneous involvement in the Vietnam war.
27-31 Oct, various times