A gift to Birmingham with Vanley Burke

This Autumn, Ikon partners with Migrant Voice and the School of Education, University of Birmingham on a project with artist Vanley Burke.

Burke will photograph ten Birmingham residents and families in their social, professional and domestic settings. He has asked each individual and group to bring “a gift to Birmingham”; something that sums up their migratory experience. Participants will share aspects of their cultural heritage from countries including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Jamaica, Nigeria, Poland and Pakistan.

This partnership forms part of an ESRC-funded research project (the ‘NICE-B’ project) led by Dr Reza Gholami, Reader in Sociology of Education at University of Birmingham. The project brings together non-formal educators in Birmingham with the city’s diverse communities to explore ways of breaking down inter-communal barriers through innovative education.

Vanley Burke is often described as the ‘Godfather of Black British Photography’: an artist, photographer and curator whose archive, surveying the Black British experience, is held at the Library of Birmingham. His exhibition, At Home with Vanley Burke, took place at Ikon Gallery in 2015.