Camberwell launches new British National Art Network for British South Asian visual art

Camberwell College of Arts has convened a new British National Art Network in partnership with Tate and Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art.

Titled British South Asian visual art post "Cool Britannia", this new network will be led by Camberwell Painting lecturer Raksha Patel with UAL Professor Daniel Sturgis.

Developed as the result of anti-racism and decolonising discussions between academics, artists and students in Camberwell’s painting studios, the group will bring together curators, artists and academics with a focuses on the comparative invisibility of contemporary British South Asian visual artists.

The aim of the network is to:

• Research how British South Asian artists have interrogated ‘Britishness’ within painting and other related visual artforms and used or escaped from the visual and cultural clichés associated with race.
• Redress the lack of visibility for contemporary British South Asian painting and understand the turn in the 1990s away from recognising the contribution of contemporary British Asian visual art.
• Examine how contemporary British South Asian visual artists have explored individual narratives (notions of self, diaspora, home) and how these approaches differ from works made by earlier generations.

Raksha Patel said: “We hope to build a network that recognises the diversity of practice of British South Asian visual artists, academics, and curators and emanates from local and national art schools and museums. Inclusivity is at the core of this work.”

“It is my aim that discussions will be intergenerational so that ideas of British Asian identity are explored across the work of 2^nd and 3^rd generation British Asian artists. We will embrace and celebrate the ‘artists voice’ and recognise the positionality of gender, class, faith and sexuality. We welcome differing narratives, challenging clichés and creating new dialogues.”

The network will be staging 3 open events this academic year, more information to follow.

For more information about the network, contact britishasianvisualarts@arts.ac.uk

More information on British Art Networks can be found on the Tate website

Find out more about BA Fine Art: Painting at Camberwell