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Creation for Liberation Open Exhibition 1987

Group show at Brixton Village, Brixton Hill. 1987
Date: 17 October, 1987 until 7 November, 1987
Organiser: Creation for Liberation

What proved to be the final of Creation for Liberation’s open exhibitions of the 1980s took place 17 November - 7 October 1987. Titled, Creation for Liberation Open Exhibition Art by Black Artists, it was held at Brixton Village (formerly St Matthew’s Meeting Place, Brixton Hill, London SW2. The selection panel for the exhibition consisted of Eddie Chambers, Chila Kumari Burman and Eugene Palmer, all of whom had work in the exhibition. A hugely important dimension of the exhibition was its accompanying seminar, Seeking a Black Aesthetic, led by Aubrey Williams. This was a rare coming together of a senior figure of the pioneering generation of Britain’s postwar immigrant artists, and a younger generation of practitioners.

As with other Creation for Liberation exhibitions, the exhibition was characterised by contributions by a broad range of practitioners. Some self-taught, some students, some professional. some from London and some from elsewhere in the country. Some artists were older, such as Clevert McKenzie, born in Jamaica in 1938. A particularly fascinating artist was Christopher Sapara, whose catalogue entry noted that he was “Born in England in 1943, and left school at the age of 15 without any qualifications but with an interest in art. He followed it up in prison by drawing portraits of fellow prisoners.”

Financially assisted by Lambeth and Greater London Arts, the exhibition introduced the Aubrey Williams Prize, the artist himself having donated “£100 as a prize for the best exhibit”, as judged by members of the public.

The exhibition’s publicity - poster, brochure, catalogue cover - featured a reproduction of Aubrey Williams’ Sun Hyroglyph. The exhibition came with a catalogue, containing monochrome reproductions of work by a number of the artists.