Black Is The New Black: An Exhibition Celebrating British Heroes

Naomi Campbell, Les Ferdinand and Sir Trevor McDonald celebrated in London exhibition

Black History Month is associated with heroes such as Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, Muhammad Ali, Maya Angelou, and perhaps Harriet Tubman. But all of these names are American heroes from the 20th century.

What about the people who are making black history today, particularly in the UK?

Black Is The New Black, a new exhibition at London’s National Portrait Gallery, aims to redress this. Shot by artist and director Simon Frederick, it is the gallery’s largest acquisition of portraits of African and Caribbean people and includes Thandie Newton, Naomi Campbell, Dizzee Rascal, Laura Mvula, Tinie Tempah, Sir Lenny Henry and Sir Trevor McDonald.

Thandie Newton, British actor.
Thandie Newton, British actor.
Simon Frederick / National Portrait Gallery

You’ll recognise many names and faces in the gallery as people who have been heavily featured in across the news, politics and pop culture in the last decade, perhaps people you never realised were making black history at the time.

Alesha Dixon, Chuka Umunna and Malorie Blackman’s images are hung on the walls alongside John Sentamu, who upon becoming Archbishop of York in 2005, also broke ground as Britain’s first black Archbishop. But their faces, softly focused and dimly lit by Frederick, are presented in a way we’ve never seen them before – strong and confrontational, yet simultaneously somewhat intimate and vulnerable.

Frederick chose sitters for the exhibition from fields spanning politics, business, culture, religion and science and his aim is to normalise the contribution that black people make to Britain.

He told HuffPost UK: “My biggest hope is that what it does is normalises the fact that black people are contributing and have contributed to the wealth and health of this country. It’s always astounding to me that you get the idiot fringe, as it were, who often turn around and say ‘why do they need to have their own thing?’. ‘Why do they need to be singled out as being special?’.

“Well, we’re not asking to be special. We’re just asking to be included in the story that we’ve been excluded from for so long. I’ve grown up in this country, my children go to school in this country and I’m proud to be British. I’m also proud of my Caribbean heritage but, at the same time, if we are excluded from the story then that becomes problematic.”

Chuka Umunna, MP for Streatham since 2010.
Chuka Umunna, MP for Streatham since 2010.
Simon Frederick / National Portrait Gallery

In many ways, the exhibition, which will run until the end of January 2019, is demonstrating the new and innovative ways we can approach portraiture, the remembrance of black history, and the people we see as worth celebrating within an artistic institution founded in the 19th century.

The historical relationship between portraiture and race is complex and inherently intertwined – images of black faces and bodies can and have been used as tools of subjugation during colonialism in the past. Not being able to show ourselves, using our own writing, art and ideas has previously often led to the creation and perpetuation of racist ideas and stereotypes, which a conversation we’ve even seen spring up as recently as last month in the controversial caricaturing of Serena Williams.

But images of blackness, captured by Frederick, a black artist himself, says something important about being able to tell our own stories, and represent our cultures in the way we best see fit.

Dizzee Rascal, rapper
Dizzee Rascal, rapper
Simon Frederick / National Portrait Gallery

The spirit of Black History Month is about inclusion, celebration and education. That spirit carries through this exhibition in its imagery but also its form: it’s interactive. At the press of a button, you can hold your phone up to the images and see videos and interviews with each portrait’s subject – which are clips are from a broader four-part BBC2 series by the same title as the exhibition.

It’s likely that the interactive element will serve as a draw, and a means by which to greater explore the histories that go along with each image. Anna Watkins, UK Managing Director of the media communications company Oath, which sponsored the exhibition, described the interactivity as a “fantastic, immersive experience for visitors to interact with the portraits through augmented reality.”

“Through the app they will relive and celebrate the achievements of some of the best known black Britons in an inspiring collection,” she continued. Oath is HuffPost’s parent company. It is part of the global telecommunications company Verizon.

Les Ferdinand, footballer
Les Ferdinand, footballer
Simon Frederick / National Portrait Gallery

Frederick, who as well as creating the portraits, is also behind the filming of the ‘Black Is The New Black’ series, says that it’s a “turning point in our shared culture,” in which “the contributions of black Britons are being acknowledged and celebrated equally.”

Black presence within such a historic institution is undoubtedly subversive – looking up at the black faces and bodies that now take up space under the ornate ceilings of the gallery itself, one message feels clear: remembering our past is now non-negotiable.

• Black Is The New Black is now on display at the National Portrait Gallery, and will be viewable until the 27th January.

• Micha Frazer-Carroll is a reporter for HuffPost UK and arts editor for Gal-Dem.

Alesha Dixon, singer
Alesha Dixon, singer
Simon Frederick / National Portrait Gallery
Tinie Tempah, rapper
Tinie Tempah, rapper
Simon Frederick / National Portrait Gallery
Sir Lenny Henry, comedian
Sir Lenny Henry, comedian
Simon Frederick / National Portrait Gallery
Sir Trevor McDonald, newsreader and journalist
Sir Trevor McDonald, newsreader and journalist
Simon Frederick / National Portrait Gallery
Gary Younge, journalist
Gary Younge, journalist
Simon Frederick / National Portrait Gallery
Laura Mvula, singer
Laura Mvula, singer
Simon Frederick / National Portrait Gallery
Sharon White, civil servant
Sharon White, civil servant
Simon Frederick / National Portrait Gallery
Charlie Casely-Hayford, menswear designer
Charlie Casely-Hayford, menswear designer
Simon Frederick / National Portrait Gallery
Denise Lewis, track and field athlete
Denise Lewis, track and field athlete
Simon Frederick / National Portrait Gallery
Bill Morris, former trader union leader
Bill Morris, former trader union leader
Simon Frederick / National Portrait Gallery
Goldie, musician
Goldie, musician
Simon Frederick / National Portrait Gallery
Shevelle Dynott, ballet dancer
Shevelle Dynott, ballet dancer
Simon Frederick / National Portrait Gallery
Jazzie B, DJ, producer and entrepreneur
Jazzie B, DJ, producer and entrepreneur
Simon Frederick / National Portrait Gallery
Christopher B-Lynch, physician and surgeon
Christopher B-Lynch, physician and surgeon
Simon Frederick / National Portrait Gallery
Yinka Shonibare, artist
Yinka Shonibare, artist
Simon Frederick / National Portrait Gallery
Malorie Blackman, children's author
Malorie Blackman, children's author
Simon Frederick / National Portrait Gallery
Edward Enninful, fashion stylist and editor-in-chief of British Vogue
Edward Enninful, fashion stylist and editor-in-chief of British Vogue
Simon Frederick / National Portrait Gallery
Reggie Yates, actor, television presenter and DJ
Reggie Yates, actor, television presenter and DJ
Simon Frederick / National Portrait Gallery
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