Beyond the Colour Bar

Creative Insight

No Colour Bar: Black British Art in Action 1960 – 1990 Co-Curator Makeda Coaston offers a poem, Beyond the Colour Bar, personally expressing and engaging with the themes of the show.  

Makeda is a  former Senior Cultural Strategy Officer for the Greater London Authority, a Chief Executive for the Minorities Arts Advisory Service, independent consultant, journalist, researcher and writer.

‘Beyond the Colour Bar’

If we could look in the mirror of history

And see our true reflection

We would know how powerful we are

If we would dare to seek -

To search beyond the gaze of others

To read between the lines  

To hear the truth unspoken and maligned

If we could recognize the messengers within our midst –

Those who tell our stories through their lives and works

Those who paint the pictures of our struggles and our hidden dreams,

Those who fight our battles while we look the other way

If we could find the courage to be the authors of our destiny -  

We can/

Some do/

It’s up to me and you!

Makeda Coaston

Exhibition Co-Curator