Handsworth: an artistic incubator
Handsworth like Harlem in the U.S., has a tradition of inspiring artists arising from the struggle for equality and justice. While a number of people have a considerable record of achievement, it is often understated if not recognised. Birmingham has a habit of ignoring some of its greatest assets.
Vanley Burke has photographed events and recorded social history in Handsworth and Birmingham, although he has also ventured further afield. He visited South Africa after Mandela's release and made a interesting study at a time of significant social change. Fortunately the City's Library has created an archive which contains not only Vanley's work, but also that of others with notable achievements such as Pogus Caesar and Pervaiz Khan
Posted by John Tyrrell at March 6, 2005 12:47 PM
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If it hadn't been for Vanley's work we'd have had almost no pictorial record of the latter years of Handsworth Park. As it is there are three magnificent B & W pictures that capture the spirit of the place in the 1970s when it started its decline because of lack of funding. I find people in their 40s and 50s still recognising themselves in the vista of over 500 faces looking towards the bandstand on "African Liberation Day" in the mid-70s. Not one is smudged as usually happens with crowd photos on this scale. What a record! The other I love is his picture of a shadowed figure on a bench beneath a spreading oak watching the cricket in the park in a quintessential English scene.
Blogged by Simon Baddeley at March 21, 2005 8:41 AM
