Black images and activism

‘Visualising the Histories of Black Britain’ at The Photographers Gallery on 19 September 2025 will carry collectively artists, activists and students to discover how images can illuminate the wealthy and complicated histories of Black and Asian communities in Seventies and Nineteen Eighties Britain.

Dr Alice Correia (lecturer of contemporary and up to date British Art) will introduce how Mumtaz Karimjee engaged with the politics of the photographic picture whereas documenting queer Black feminist activism.

In 1987, the photographer Mumtaz Karimjee printed an article titled ‘Black and Asian: Definitions and Redefinitions’ within the British South-Asian grassroots publication, Mukti. Correia will talk about how Karimjee thought of the phrases ‘Black’ and ‘Asian’ in relation to her personal id and the methods during which these phrases have been used inclusively and completely in response to completely different contexts and settings. 

Correia will introduce how Karimjee utilised images as a mode of social activism whereas transferring between South-Asian and politically-Black contexts to precise her social and political considerations and solidarities. Correia will spotlight Karimjee’s groundbreaking work picturing anti-racist campaigns for social justice and queer Black activism amidst Section 28 and the AIDS disaster.

Expect thought-provoking discussions, important views, and galvanizing insights into visible tradition, id, and illustration.

Visualising the Histories of Black Britain

The Photographers’ Gallery, 16–18 Ramillies Street, London W1F 7LW 
Thursday, 19 September 2025
12pm – 5pm
Book your ticket online.