Ajamu X

Last updated

Ajamu X
Born1963 (age 60–61)
Huddersfield, UK
Nationality British
Website www.ajamu-studio.com

Ajamu X (born 1963 in Huddersfield) is a British artist, curator, archivist and activist. He is best known for his fine art photography which explores same-sex desire, and the Black male body, and his work as an archivist and activist to document the lives and experiences of black LGBTQ people in the United Kingdom (UK).

Contents

Early life

Ajamu was born in 1963 in Huddersfield to Jamaican parents. His grandparents arrived to England in 1958 and his parents followed in 1962. [1]

Ajamu came out as gay to his parents in his late teens and describes their reaction as "impressively progressive for the times". [1] He studied Black History and photography in Leeds. While in Leeds, he and two friends created the magazine BLAC, an acronym for Black Liberation Activist Core. In October 1987, after seeing it advertised in the newspaper Caribbean Times , Ajamu attended the first, and only, National Black Gay Men's Conference held at the Black Lesbian and Gay Centre in Camden. By January the following year, he had moved to London. [2] [3] He was given the name Ajamu in 1991; it means "he who fights for what he believes". [1]

My name Ajamu X is a reference to Malcolm X who was my first key role model. Changing my name to an African one was very significant.

— Ajamu X [2]

Career

Ajamu's work often highlights stories of black LGBT people who he feels are often marginalised from mainstream British Society; additionally he has chosen to focus on those who are black and openly "out" and have been accepted by their families. Ajamu has said he rejects the claim that Jamaican culture is particularly homophobic and believes that homophobia exists across cultures and families of all backgrounds. [1]

He often speaks of his work as a "sex activist"; he has run "sex parties for men who want to have sex with men" since the 1990s, [1] and same-sex desire and pleasure are recurring themes in his photography. His first major exhibition Black Bodyscapes, in 1994, focused on the private sexual realities of black gay men. [4] More recent projects include Fierce: Portraits of Young Black Queers. an exhibition of 24 portraits of a "…new generation of Black and proudly out young, emerging and established talent" [5] at London's Guildhall Art Gallery in 2014 [6] and I Am For You Can Enjoy [7] with Khalil West, at Contact Theatre, Manchester, in 2016, which uses photography and video, to explore the lives of queer Black male sex workers and their clients. Ajamu has described himself as an "artist who has created an archive" [8] and, in addition to his art practice, continues to document black LGBT experiences.

Write and record everything you do; no-one is going to write our histories for us.

— Ajamu X [6]

In 2000 Ajamu and Topher Campbell co-founded rukus! Federation [9] an "arts company dedicated to celebrating and showcasing the best in challenging, provocative works by black lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans-gender artists nationally and internationally." [2] Ajamu was the Archive Manager "The Black LGBT Archive Project", a major initiative to develop an archive collection on "Black Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans-Gender heritage, history and lived experience in the UK". [2] In 2008 Ajamu co-curated the exhibition Outside Edge: a journey through Black lesbian and gay history at the Museum of Docklands. [10] The rukus! Black Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Cultural Archive was deposited at London Metropolitan Archives in 2010. [11]

Ajamu was the subject of Topher Campbell's first film The Homecoming: A Short Film about Ajamu in 1995. [12] The documentary film Brixton Recreation with Ajamu, directed by Danny Solle, featured his experiences of cruising and sex as an out Black gay man in Brixton. [13]

His fine art photography is in national and international collections including the Gallery of Modern Art in Glasgow, Autograph ABP, and the Neuberger Museum of Art in New York. Ajamu is co-chair of Centred, an LGBTQ community organisation, in London's Soho. [14]

Selected exhibitions

As Curator:

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pink triangle</span> Nazi concentration camp badge, later international symbol of gay pride and the gay rights movements

A pink triangle has been a symbol for the LGBT community, initially intended as a badge of shame, but later reappropriated as a positive symbol of self-identity. In Nazi Germany in the 1930s and 1940s, it began as one of the Nazi concentration camp badges, distinguishing those imprisoned because they had been identified by authorities as gay men or trans women. In the 1970s, it was revived as a symbol of protest against homophobia, and has since been adopted by the larger LGBT community as a popular symbol of LGBT pride and the LGBT movements and queer liberation movements.

Heteronormativity is the concept that heterosexuality is the preferred or normal sexual orientation. It assumes the gender binary and that sexual and marital relations are most fitting between people of opposite sex.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBTQ culture</span> Common culture shared by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people

LGBTQ culture is a culture shared by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer individuals. It is sometimes referred to as queer culture, LGBT culture, and LGBTQIA culture, while the term gay culture may be used to mean either "LGBT culture" or homosexual culture specifically.

LGBT art in Singapore, or queer art in Singapore, broadly refers to modern and contemporary visual art practices that draw on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender+ imagery and themes, addressing topics such as LGBT rights, history and culture in Singapore. Such queer art practices are often by Singaporean or Singapore-based visual artists and curators who identify as LGBT+ or queer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBTQ stereotypes</span> Stereotypes around LGBTQ people and communities

LGBTQ stereotypes are stereotypes about lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people based on their sexual orientations, gender identities, or gender expressions. Stereotypical perceptions may be acquired through interactions with parents, teachers, peers and mass media, or, more generally, through a lack of firsthand familiarity, resulting in an increased reliance on generalizations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art</span> Visual art museum in New York City, US

The Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art (LLMA), formerly the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art, is a visual art museum in SoHo, Lower Manhattan, New York City. It mainly collects, preserves and exhibits visual arts created by LGBTQ artists or art about LGBTQ+ themes, issues, and people. The museum, operated by the Leslie-Lohman Gay Art Foundation, offers exhibitions year-round in numerous locations and owns more than 22,000 objects, including, paintings, drawings, photography, prints and sculpture. The foundation was awarded Museum status by the New York State Board of Regents in 2011 and was formally accredited as a museum in 2016. The museum is a member of the American Alliance of Museums and operates pursuant to their guidelines. As of 2019, the LLMA was the only museum in the world dedicated to artwork documenting the LGBTQ experience.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBTQ movements in the United States</span>

LGBTQ movements in the United States comprise an interwoven history of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer social movements in the United States of America, beginning in the early 20th century. A commonly stated goal among these movements is social equality for LGBTQ people. Some have also focused on building LGBTQ communities or worked towards liberation for the broader society from biphobia, homophobia, and transphobia. LGBTQ movements organized today are made up of a wide range of political activism and cultural activity, including lobbying, street marches, social groups, media, art, and research. Sociologist Mary Bernstein writes:

For the lesbian and gay movement, then, cultural goals include challenging dominant constructions of masculinity and femininity, homophobia, and the primacy of the gendered heterosexual nuclear family (heteronormativity). Political goals include changing laws and policies in order to gain new rights, benefits, and protections from harm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GLBT Historical Society</span> American non-profit LGBT historical society

The GLBT Historical Society maintains an extensive collection of archival materials, artifacts and graphic arts relating to the history of LGBTQ people in the United States, with a focus on the LGBT communities of San Francisco and Northern California.

Del LaGrace Volcano is an American artist, performer, and activist from California. A formally trained photographer, Volcano's work includes installation, performance and film and interrogates the performance of gender on several levels, especially the performance of masculinity and femininity.

Historically, the portrayal of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people in media has been largely negative if not altogether absent, reflecting a general cultural intolerance of LGBTQ individuals; however, from the 1990s to present day, there has been an increase in the positive depictions of LGBTQ people, issues, and concerns within mainstream media in North America. The LGBTQ communities have taken an increasingly proactive stand in defining their own culture, with a primary goal of achieving an affirmative visibility in mainstream media. The positive portrayal or increased presence of the LGBTQ communities in media has served to increase acceptance and support for LGBT communities, establish LGBTQ communities as a norm, and provide information on the topic.

Topher Campbell is a filmmaker, artist and writer who has created a range of works in broadcasting, film, theatre, television and performance. His works focus on issues of sexuality, masculinity, and the city, particularly in relation to race, human rights and climate change. Campbell is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and a past recipient of the Jerwood Directors Award (2005). He holds an honorary doctorate from the University of Sussex for his work in the arts and Black LGBTQ advocacy. He is currently Programme Director of the Collaborative Theatre Making programme at Rose Bruford College in London.

Racism is a concern for many in the Western lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBTQ) communities, with members of racial, ethnic, and national minorities reporting having faced discrimination from other LGBT people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBTQ culture in San Francisco</span>

The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBTQ) community in San Francisco is one of the largest and most prominent LGBT communities in the United States, and is one of the most important in the history of American LGBT rights and activism alongside New York City. The city itself has been described as "the original 'gay-friendly city'". LGBT culture is also active within companies that are based in Silicon Valley, which is located within the southern San Francisco Bay Area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outline of LGBTQ topics</span>

The following outline offers an overview and guide to LGBTQ topics:

This is a timeline of notable events in the history of non-heterosexual conforming people of African ancestry, who may identify as LGBTIQGNC, men who have sex with men, or related culturally specific identities. This timeline includes events both in Africa, the Americas and Europe and in the global African diaspora, as the histories are very deeply linked.

Queer erasure refers to the tendency to intentionally or unintentionally remove LGBT groups or people from record, or downplay their significance, which includes lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people. This erasure can be found in a number of written and oral texts, including popular and scholarly texts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBTQ culture in Baltimore</span>

LGBT culture in Baltimore, Maryland is an important part of the culture of Baltimore, as well as being a focal point for the wider LGBT community in the Baltimore metropolitan area. Mount Vernon, known as Baltimore's gay village, is the central hub of the city's lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities.

Homonormativity is the adoption of heteronormative ideals and constructs onto LGBT culture and identity. It is predicated on the assumption that the norms and values of heterosexuality should be replicated and performed among homosexual people. Those who assert this theory claim homonormativity selectively privileges cisgender homosexuality as worthy of social acceptance.

Queer art, also known as LGBT+ art or queer aesthetics, broadly refers to modern and contemporary visual art practices that draw on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and various non-heterosexual, non-cisgender imagery and issues. While by definition there can be no singular "queer art", contemporary artists who identify their practices as queer often call upon "utopian and dystopian alternatives to the ordinary, adopt outlaw stances, embrace criminality and opacity, and forge unprecedented kinships and relationships." Queer art is also occasionally very much about sex and the embracing of unauthorised desires.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Surtees, Joshua (25 July 2014). "Ajamu challenges homophobia". Guardian Trinidad and Tobago. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Ajamu X interview". Sam The Wheels. Archived from the original on 9 May 2017. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
  3. ↑ Cook, Matt (2014). Queer Domesticities: Homosexuality and Home Life in Twentieth-Century London. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN   978-1-137-31607-3.
  4. ↑ Seery, Emma (28 March 2014). "Ajamu: Sexual Idenitifcation". Open Eye Gallery. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  5. ↑ Minott, Zinzi (27 March 2013). "Fierce and That: Pondering the Work of Ajamu X an Original Afropunk". AfroPunk. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  6. 1 2 X, Zia (November 2014). "What is it to be Fierce? The photography of Ajamu". Open Democracy. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  7. 1 2 "Khalil West and Ajamu - I Am For You Can Enjoy". Contact Theatre. Archived from the original on 22 March 2016. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
  8. ↑ Vincent, John (28 February 2014). LGBT People and the UK Cultural Sector: The Response of Libraries, Museums, Archives and Heritage since 1950. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. p. 3. ISBN   978-1-4724-0331-5.
  9. ↑ "Love and lubrication in the archives: rukus! Black Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Cultural Archive catalogue launched". London Metropolitan Archives. City of London. 2015. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
  10. 1 2 "Who works on an exhibition like Outside Edge?". Museum of London - blog. Archived from the original on 24 June 2016. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
  11. ↑ Ajamu (June 2011). "Celebrating History" (PDF). Runnymede Bulletin (366): 26. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 August 2016. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  12. ↑ Donnell, Alison (11 September 2002). Companion to Contemporary Black British Culture. Routledge. ISBN   9781134700257.
  13. ↑ Avery, Simon; Graham, Katherine M. (6 October 2016). Sex, Time and Place: Queer Histories of London, c.1850 to the Present. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN   9781474234948.
  14. ↑ "Trustees, Centred". Centred. Archived from the original on 10 October 2015. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  15. ↑ "Queer Self Portraits Now". Artlyst. Archived from the original on 25 June 2016. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
  16. ↑ Eddie Chambers (29 July 2014). Black Artists in British Art: A History since the 1950s. I.B.Tauris. ISBN   978-0-85773-608-6.
  17. 1 2 Melanie Keen; Elizabeth Ward; Institute of International Visual Arts (1996). Recordings: a select bibliography of contemporary African, Afro-Caribbean and Asian British art. Institute of International Visual Arts and Chelsea College of Art and Design. p. 44. ISBN   978-1-899846-06-1.
  18. ↑ "Introducing 2016 Visual AIDS Curatorial Resident Ajamu". Visual AIDS. 17 February 2016. Retrieved 13 April 2016.

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.