Black British Art, 1945 to now

A portrait of a Black woman with large earrings like leaves and wearing a blue cami top. She has a pensive look on her face. She is against a floral wallpaper background; the pattern of the wallpaper is subtly in relief on her skin.
Yvadney Davis, Picnic in Dulwich Park (2025), Oil & wallpaper on canvas, 91 x 61cm. Courtesy of the artist.

Applicants to this Special Option are eligible to apply for a Manton MA Scholarship for Studies in British Art.

This MA Special Option considers the formation of Black British art and its changing iterations from the postwar period to the present day.

Embedded in a need for representation and often evolving through cultural and political resistance, Black British art has a pivotal yet complex role within British history and the larger context of a global Black diaspora and its art histories, including Black Modernism. The study of Black British art is transdisciplinary, encompassing art, photography, film, literature, fashion, performance, sound, and oral cultures. Foregrounding the field as social, political, and cultural practice, the course is structured both chronologically and thematically to examine historical and critical developments. In tandem, we evaluate the evolution and influence of significant Black art exhibitions, designated Black art spaces, and more recently, institutional and historiographic mainstreaming, integration and its critique. We will consider how questions of media specificity, innovation, and Blackness became linked in this period and continues to permeate for contemporary Black British artists including queer, trans, gender non-conforming and non-binary artists and their practices signifying a new politics and ecology of identities. Reading with and through an interdisciplinary lens, connecting to wider fields of Black diasporic cultural forms, histories and theories is encouraged. With the resurgence of national and international interest in the field as demonstrated by Lubaina Himid (2026), John Akomfrah (2024) and Sonia Boyce (2022) consecutively representing Great Britain at the Venice Biennale, Veronica Ryan’s Turner Prize award in 2023 as well as recent major solo exhibitions including Michaela Yearwood-Dan, Donald Locke and Hurvin Anderson, this MA Special Option is a timely reassessment of the contribution of Black British aesthetics and practices. As a burgeoning field, the MA offers rich opportunities for in-depth exploration and training towards further study for a PhD or professional employment in the arts sector, including curation. The Special Option will benefit students interested in Modern and Contemporary art, Black and Black Diaspora art, British Art Studies, Black and Cultural Studies as well as British history and narratives of race, identity, empire, migration, postcolonial, and decolonial methodologies. Complemented by a rich variety of museum, gallery, archival, and studio visits, the course includes guest lectures by contemporary artists and is anticipated to include a study trip to Europe or the United States supported by a travel grant. Past students have gone on to work in wide range of fields, including and galleries, museums and auction houses in the UK, the US, Africa and Australia as well as study in national and international doctoral programmes.

As well as those mentioned above, artists for study may include Aubrey Williams, Sir Frank Bowling, Donald Rodney, F.N. Souza, Steve McQueen, Hew Locke, Alberta Whittle, Black Audio Film Collective, Keith Piper, Claudette Johnson, Thomas J. Price, Horace Ové, Barbara Walker, Larry Achiampong, Rotimi Fani-Kayode, Chila Kumari Burman, Hamad Butt, Vanley Burke, Leah Kirby (CYRO), Lakwena Maciver, Chris Ofili, amongst others. As issues of migration, nationalism and decolonization re-emerge as critical questions of our time, this MA Special Option situates Black British art as a significant global field for our contemporary present.

No formal language requirement other than proficiency in English. Given the interdisciplinary nature of this Special Option, students from a variety of academic backgrounds–including history, literature, and other subjects–are encouraged to apply.

In the event that a course leader is on sabbatical, takes up a fellowship, or otherwise is not able to teach the course, they will be replaced by another experienced course leader either for a semester or, in some cases, the academic year.

Course leader: Dr Indie A. Choudhury

How to apply
Special Options
Faisal Abdu’Allah, Fuck Da Police, 2010/1991. Etching and pigmented inkjet print on aluminum, 40 x 50 in. Edition of 3. Copyright and courtesy of the artist.
Faisal Abdu’Allah, Fuck Da Police, 2010/1991. Etching and pigmented inkjet print on aluminum, 40 x 50 in. Edition of 3. Copyright and courtesy of the artist.
Horace Ove, ‘Psychedelic Sister’, 1968. Copyright of the artist
Horace Ove, ‘Psychedelic Sister’, 1968. Copyright of the artist
Ṣọlá Olúlòde, First Kiss, 2022. Charcoal, pigment, oil, ink and pastel on canvas, 90x 120 cm. Courtesy of the artist.
Ṣọlá Olúlòde, First Kiss, 2022. Charcoal, pigment, oil, ink and pastel on canvas, 90x 120 cm. Courtesy of the artist.
A canvas with visible brush marks, shapes painted in gold colours and blues
Aubrey Williams, El Dorado. (1960) Oil on canvas, 100 x 130 cm. Copyright and courtesy of the artist.
Aubrey Williams, El Dorado. (1960) Oil on canvas, 100 x 130 cm. Copyright and courtesy of the artist.
A portrait of a Black woman in a red jumper looks directly at the viewer. She has her face partially tucked into her arms. The background is shadowed and plain.
Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, Waves and Crests (2019). Oils on linen, 23.5 × 25.5 in. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, NY.
Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, Waves and Crests (2019). Oils on linen, 23.5 × 25.5 in. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, NY.
A black and white photograph of a naked man sat on the floor in a plain empty room. He tucks his face into his knees. He has clear plastic tubing curled around his body.
Rotimi Fani-Kayode, Abiku (Born to Die) 1988). Gelatin silver print on paper, photograph, 38 x 38 cm. Copyright and courtesy of the artist.
Rotimi Fani-Kayode, Abiku (Born to Die) 1988). Gelatin silver print on paper, photograph, 38 x 38 cm. Copyright and courtesy of the artist.
A bold colourful artwork shows a small child on a woman's knee. The woman's face is partially obscured; she appears to be in conversation. The child seems to be listening patiently with her face in her hands.
Sonia Boyce, Big Women’s Talk. (1984) Pastels on paper, 122 x 122 cm. Copyright and courtesy of the artist.
Sonia Boyce, Big Women’s Talk. (1984) Pastels on paper, 122 x 122 cm. Copyright and courtesy of the artist.
Two headless mannequins wear dresses like ornate 19th century European woman's dresses, constructed of vibrant, colorful fabrics reflect traditional African textiles. The two mannequin are raising rifles at each other.
Yinka Shonibare, How to Blow Up Two Heads at Once (Ladies) (2006). Fiberglass mannequins, guns, Dutch wax printed cotton, shoes, leather riding boots, 160.02 x 154.94 x 121.92 in. Copyright and courtesy of the artist.
Yinka Shonibare, How to Blow Up Two Heads at Once (Ladies) (2006). Fiberglass mannequins, guns, Dutch wax printed cotton, shoes, leather riding boots, 160.02 x 154.94 x 121.92 in. Copyright and courtesy of the artist.

Special Options Academic Year 2026/7

Citations