The Place Is Here: The Work of Black Artists in 1980s Britain

Join us for the launch of the new publication, The Place Is Here: The Work of Black Artists in 1980s Britain, continuing the legacy of the international exhibition The Place is Here (2016-17).

The Place is Here exhibition traced the urgent and wide-ranging conversations taking place between black artists, writers and thinkers in Britain during the 1980s. The exhibitions brought together over 100 works by 40 artists and collectives, spanning painting, sculpture, installation, photography, video and expanded archival displays, examining this critical decade for British culture. The exhibition was shown at Van Abbemuseum (2016); Nottingham Contemporary; the South London Gallery; and Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art (all 2017).

Richly illustrated, the publication includes larger thematic essays, close readings of works and a series of panel discussions, bringing together key scholarly, critical and artistic voices from the 1980s and today.

Join the editors and artists Rehana Zaman and Marlene Smith for an inter-generational discussion to the many intellectual, aesthetic and political concerns addressed in the book.

The Place Is Here: The Work of Black Artists in 1980s Britain is edited by Nick Aikens and Elizabeth Robbles and published by Sternberg Press and Van Abbemuseum.