London,
01
February
2017
|
15:46
Europe/London

Commemoration of Black Women’s Movement fight for social justice

A collection of bronze casts of Black Women’s Movement activists’ fists will be displayed at Guildhall Art Gallery this month to commemorate the group’s campaigning work in London during the 1970s and 1980s.

A Fighters’ Archive by sculptor Wijnand De Jonge opens on 7 February at the City of London Corporation’s art gallery to pay tribute to 15 women who were members of various activists’ groups.

The sculpture takes the form of a boxing archive (i.e. casts of boxers’ fists collected by Boxing Academies to commemorate prize fighters) in a display case of bronze casts of the clenched fists of influential women who were involved in the movement. The fists, which were cast from life, will be painted according to the skin tone of each individual, and labelled with name plaques. They include:

  • Professor Dame Elizabeth Anionwu, Emeritus Professor of Nursing at the University of West London and Patron of The Sickle Cell Society;
  • Mia Morris, who created the Black History Month and International Women’s Month websites, and wrote the award-winning publication, History 365;
  • Gerlin Bean, founder of Brixton Black Women’s Centre, and who currently runs an education centre in Jamaica.

Katty Pearce, the City of London Corporation’s art gallery curator, said:

“This remarkable display, small in size, but conveying a powerful and strident message, pays tribute to these inspirational women who challenged prejudice and stood up for their beliefs. Guildhall Art Gallery takes great pride in showcasing the capital’s history through art, and it is our privilege to give space and a voice to ‘A Fighters’ Archive’ within the gallery’s historic London collection.”

A Fighters’ Archive by Wijnand De Jonge, which has been funded by the Arts Council, runs from Tuesday 7 February to Sunday 19 March at Guildhall Art Gallery, EC2. Admission is free. The City of London Corporation, which owns and manages Guildhall Art Gallery, invests £80m every year in heritage and cultural activities of all kinds. It is the UK’s largest funder of culture after the government, the BBC, and the Heritage Lottery Fund.

ENDS 

Notes for Editors:

Sculptor Wijnand De Jonge and art gallery curator Katty Pearce are available for media interview. High resolution images of the fists are available on request. Please contact Andrew Buckingham (see below) for further details.

For further information, please contact:

Andrew Buckingham, Media Officer, City of London Corporation

Tel: 020 7332 1452 / Mobile: 07795 333060 / Email andrew.buckingham@cityoflondon.gov.uk

ABOUT GUILDHALL ART GALLERY:

Guildhall Art Gallery was established in 1886 as 'a Collection of Art Treasures worthy of the capital city'. See works dating from 1670 to the present, including seventeenth century portraits, Pre-Raphaelite masterpieces and a fascinating range of paintings documenting London's dramatic history. General admission to Guildhall Art Gallery is FREE; however, an entrance fee may be charged for some exhibitions, with concessionary rates for senior citizens, registered unemployed and registered disabled.

Monday - Saturday, 10am - 5pmSunday, 12pm - 4pm

Call 020 7332 3700 / textphone 020 7332 3803 for a daily recorded message or for more information. Email guildhall.artgallery@cityoflondon.gov.uk and follow @GuildhallArt

ABOUT THE CITY OF LONDON CORPORATION:

The City of London Corporation is a uniquely diverse organisation. It supports and promotes the City as the world leader in international finance and business services and provides local services and policing for those working in, living in and visiting the Square Mile. It also provides valued services to London and the nation. These include the Barbican Centre and the Guildhall School of Music & Drama; the Guildhall Library and Art Gallery and London Metropolitan Archives; a range of education provision (including three City Academies); five Thames bridges (including Tower Bridge and the Millennium Bridge); the Central Criminal Court at Old Bailey; over 10,000 acres of open spaces (including Hampstead Heath and Epping Forest), and three wholesale food markets. It is also London’s Port Health Authority and runs the Animal Reception Centre at Heathrow. It works in partnership with neighbouring boroughs on the regeneration of surrounding areas and the City Bridge Trust, which it oversees, donates more than £15m to charity annually. www.cityoflondon.gov.uk

ABOUT WIJNAND DE JONGE AND THE FIGHTERS’ ARCHIVE:

Wijnand de Jonge is a Dutch artist who lives and works in South London. Since undertaking an MPhil by project in Sculpture, at the Royal College of Art (2008-2011), he has developed a series of works that re-narrate historic events within the context of contemporary art practice. The works he produces exhibited both nationally and internationally, involve sustained research that investigates power structures, politics and sociology. His artistic practice is underpinned by a re-imagining of archival systems in relation to the art object. The conceptual framework for his practice is based on retracing the trajectories of existing items and events that derive from a wide range of public collections, such as; archives, museums and storage depots. The concept of the archive is also explored in terms of the physical structures of cataloguing, display and storage that uphold the narrative constructs of the museum. Vitrines, plinths, wall plaques and storage crates all figure in his work, and are reconstructed with subtle transgressions. www.wijnanddejonge.com