Black History Month 2022
Join us as we take a step back in history and explore the lives of black artists through arts and literature.
Our contemporary art collection is growing thanks to Contemporary Art Society, who helped us acquire four new works at Frieze London. These new artworks explore many facets of family life and were chosen because of your feedback through the Harris Your Place project.
‘Sweetest Devotion’, a hand-stitched silk collage by Malawi-born, Johannesburg-based artist Billie Zangewa captures a touching moment of a child and his uncle during the pandemic.
Books
Have you visited our library recently? We have a range of adult and children’s books ready for you to borrow, that explore the lives of black icons and characters, written by black authors. If you need a recommendation, ask one of our friendly librarians.
What is Race? – Clare Heuchan
Talk about race is often discouraged, but this title aims to bring everyone into the conversation. Exploring the history of race and society and giving context to how racist attitudes come into being, the book looks at belonging and identity, the damaging effects of stereotyping and the benefits of positive representation. The authors talk sensitively about how to identify and challenge racism, and how to protect against and stop racist behaviour.
Find out what’s available for you to borrow online.
Talking Turkeys – Benjamin Zephaniah
The very first children’s poetry collection from street poet Benjamin Zephaniah. Playful, clever and provocative, this is performance poetry on the page at its very best.
Find out what’s available for you to borrow online.
The Undefeated – Kwame Alexander
Originally performed for ESPN’s ‘The Undefeated’, this poem is a love letter to black life in the United States. It highlights the unspeakable trauma of slavery, the faith and fire of the civil rights movement, and the grit, passion, and perseverance of some of the world’s greatest heroes. The text is also peppered with references to the words of Martin Luther King, Jr., Langston Hughes, Gwendolyn Brooks, and others, offering deeper insights into the accomplishments of the past, while bringing stark attention to the endurance and spirit of those surviving and thriving in the present.
Find out what’s available for you to borrow online.
Amazing Grace – Mary Hoffman
Grace loves to act out stories. When her school decides to perform Peter Pan, Grace longs to play the lead, but her classmates point out that Peter was a boy, and besides, he wasn’t black.
Find out what’s available for you to borrow online.
Katherine Johnson – Ebony Joy Wilkins
In this biography, discover the inspiring story of Katherine Johnson, famed NASA mathematician and one of the subjects of the award-winning 2016 film ‘Hidden Figures.’ It was an incredible accomplishment when the United States first put a person on the Moon – but without the incredible behind-the-scenes work of NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson, such a feat could not have been possible.
Follow her remarkable journey from growing up in West Virginia, to becoming a teacher, to breaking barriers at NASA and receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015.
Find out what’s available for you to borrow online.
Tar Baby – Toni Morrison
Ravishingly beautiful and emotionally incendiary, Tar Baby is Toni Morrison’s reinvention of the love story. Jadine Childs is a black fashion model with a white patron, a white boyfriend, and a coat made out of ninety perfect sealskins. Son is a black fugitive who embodies everything she loathes and desires. As Morrison follows their affair, which plays out from the Caribbean to Manhattan and the deep South, she charts all the nuances of obligation and betrayal between blacks and whites, masters and servants, and men and women.
Find out what’s available for you to borrow online.
Girl, Woman, Other – Bernadine Evaristo
‘Girl, Woman, Other’ follows the lives and struggles of twelve very different characters. Mostly women, black and British, they tell the stories of their families, friends, and lovers, across the country and through the years.
Find out what’s available for you to borrow online.
Basquiat – Paolo Parisi
Cool, talented and transgressive, Jean-Michel Basquiat’s life is just as fascinating as the work he produced. Delve into 1980s New York as this vivid graphic novel takes you on Basquiat’s journey from street-art legend SAMO to international art-scene darling, up until his sudden death.
Told through cinematic scenes, this is Basquiat as seen through the eyes of those who knew him, including his father, Suzanne Mallouk, Larry Gagosian and, most importantly, the man himself. Basquiat is a moving depiction of a troubled artist’s life for those interested in both the art and the man who made it.
Find out what’s available for you to borrow online.
White Teeth – Zadie Smith
‘White Teeth’ is a comic epic of multicultural Britain by one of the most exciting young writers of the new millennium. It tells the story of immigrants in England over a period of 40 years.
Find out what’s available for you to borrow online.
I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings – Maya Angelou
In this, the first volume of her autobiography, writer and poet Maya Angelou reflects on her childhood spent growing up in the American South of the 1930s. There she learned the power of the white townsfolk and suffered the trauma of rape.
Find out what’s available for you to borrow online.
Blogs
Read about the life of designer Althea McNish and how she left her mark on the textiles world. You’ll also be able to see one of her wonderful prints in our collection which can be found on our Fashion & Textiles page.
Discover
Contemporary Artist Shawanda Corbett
Discover how contemporary artist Shawanda Corbett’s work comes to life as she combines music, poetry, dance and prose.
Read about ShawandaDiscover
Textile Designer Althea McNish
Discover how Althea McNish left her mark on the textile industry.
Read about Althea20/20 Project
The Harris is delighted to announce we will be working with talented artist Hannah Sabapathy. 20/20 is an ambitious 3-year programme announced by UAL Decolonising Arts Institute in November 2021. The project will support 20 emerging ethnically diverse artists of colour to take up residencies with 20 public art collections across the country, leading to 20 new permanent acquisitions.
At the end of their residency, Hannah Sabapathy will produce a commissioned artwork that will become a permanent piece in the Harris collection.
Preston’s African Caribbean Community
Oral History
Listen to clips of an interview with Preston’s Maxine Grant recorded in 2002. These are part of a larger archive of oral histories that we will share more of on the collections page.
Discover
Contemporary Artist Shawanda Corbett
Discover how contemporary artist Shawanda Corbett’s work comes to life as she combines music, poetry, dance and prose.
Read about ShawandaDiscover
Textile Designer Althea McNish
Discover how Althea McNish left her mark on the textile industry.
WayDavid Olusoga in conversation
David Olusoga in conversation
Join historian David Olusoga in conversation for his personal perspective on how we memorialise, teach and write about racism, and why black British history matters.
Black History MonthThe Story of the
Mapokwe Basket
– Phil Kaila
Join Phil as he reads to our younger audience. The story of the Mapokwe basket is about how a young Zambian girl learns that she must be prepared to work hard for the things that she most wants in life. The story links to the baskets from Zambia listed in the Harris collection.