A ground-breaking new hybrid exhibition that celebrates 250 years of contribution to British society by poets of colour has launched at Manchester Metropolitan.
My Words, curated by Museum of Colour, which recently launched at the University’s Manchester Poetry Library, features portraits of some of the ‘remarkable poets of colour who have changed the poetic landscape and influenced all the culture that we enjoy today’.
The exhibition includes Manchester Metropolitan’s creative writing lecturer Malika Booker, an award-winning poet, writer and multi-disciplinary artist, alongside the acclaimed poet, writer and the Freelance Cultural Director of the Black Arts Alliance SuAndi OBE, who was awarded an honorary Doctor of Arts from Manchester Metropolitan in 2019.
Booker said: “The Museum of Colour My Wordsexhibition heralds a landmark futuristic conservation of British people of colour’s developmental and success narratives. I am honoured to have been invited to be a part of such a ground-breaking project. I am overjoyed to have been beautifully photographed and have my words and poems archived amongst such revered poets. This is truly a historical project with outstanding portraits marking our considerable contribution to literature.”
Co-curated by Museum of Colour founder Samenua Sesher OBE, Melanie Abrahams of Renaissance One and Joy Francis from Words of Colour, the exhibition – thought to be the first of its kind – features over 30 poets, from influential 18th century writers to leading contemporary poets, including the likes of John Agard, Nikita Gill and Benjamin Zephaniah.
