The evening begins with Nik Hartley introducing an exclusive debut screening of his new short film ‘Albert The Lion’, depicting local Lancashire school children narrating a northern tale. The film is an extension of Hartley’s exhibited photographs from his ‘Every Street’ series, set in a local Lancashire British Asian Barbershop. Looking at the evolution of society and dialect the project is a celebration of youth and diversity in a time of political uncertainty.
Following the screening we welcome Vanley Burke, the ‘Godfather of British Black Photography’, Burke will be in conversation with Renée Mussai, Senior Curator and Head of Archive & Research at Autograph ABP on how his iconic images have captured the evolving landscape and stimulated debate in the UK over the past four decades. Hear his motivations, inspiration and more about his role in the preservation of culture and history through documentation, creation and discovery.
The evening will conclude with uniting Hartley, Burke in an audience Q&A.
Biographies
Nik Hartley
Lancashire-born photographer Nik Hartley graduated from Blackpool and The Fylde College before, moving to London. With a background in photographic assistance for a commanding line-up of international photographers, Nik has since become regarded for pursuing his own highly personal work, which crosses the disciplines of fashion and portraiture.
Vanley Burke
Vanley Burke’s body of work represents possibly the largest photographic record of the Caribbean Diaspora in Britain, and as an avid collector, Vanley continues to connect histories through his substantial archive housed at the Library of Birmingham. From local community organisations to the Victoria & Albert Museum and Whitechapel, Vanley has exhibited widely in the U.K., and as far afield as New York, South Africa and China.
Vanley draws strength from remaining a humble man of the community, whose personable character allows him to capture the intimate and private nature of people’s everyday lives. His artistic enquiry is not simply limited to black and white documentary photography, as his eccentric rebellious nature lends itself to sculpture and painting, and crafting art that gives life a shape.
Renée Mussai
Senior Curator and Head of Archive & Research at Autograph ABP, a London-based arts charity that promotes photography and film addressing cultural identity, race, representation and human rights. A curator/scholar with a special interest in African, Black British and diasporic photographic portraiture, Mussai has organised numerous artistic projects and curated major exhibitions in Europe, Africa and the US - including the critically-acclaimed Black Chronicles programmes (2014 -2018). She publishes and lectures internationally on photography, curatorial studies and cultural politics, and is presently a PhD candidate in Art History at University College London, as well as a regular guest curator and former non-resident fellow at the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University.
