Art by Design: Projects in Culture and Identity

Abstract

Prior to joining higher education I had worked as an independent designer and community activist very much outside of the mainstream. My political work had been developed alongside such groups as the All African People’s Revolutionary Party and the Pan African Congress Movement. The former is an international party established by Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana and Sékou Touré of Guinea and led at the time by Kwame Touré, formerly known as Stokely Carmichael. The latter was — at the time — one of the largest African people’s organisations in the United Kingdom. Whilst based in Bristol undertaking undergraduate studies in fashion design, I joined an organisation called the Black Peoples Movement (BPM). There were a number of black community organisations operating in Bristol at the time, however, whilst most claimed the area of St. Pauls, only the BPM really worked with and knew the African heritage community that lived there.