Black History Month events 2018

As well as our Fabric Africa exhibition, there’s a variety of talks and special events coming up to mark Black History Month.

Fabric Africa: Stories told through textiles
Throughout October until 19 May 2019
Bristol Museum & Art Gallery
Free entry – donations welcome

Fabric Africa is a stunning snapshot of the diversity of modern and historic textiles from across the continent of Africa. See how highlights from our World Cultures and British Empire and Commonwealth collections reflect the variety of patterns, colours, materials and techniques created, as well as the personal and provocative stories they can tell.

The selection of textiles and clothing dates from the late 1800s to the present day and come from Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, Sudan, Mali and Swaziland amongst others.

Find out more about Fabric Africa

 

Fabric Africa Fashion Show
Wednesday 17 October, 7pm – 9.30pm
Bristol Museum & Art Gallery
Free entry – donations welcome | No need to book

Celebrate African textiles and culture with an exciting evening of catwalk fashion, Afrobeats music and special guest speakers. Hosted by Vanessa Kisuule, the highlight of the evening is the fashion show curated by Christelle Pellecuer featuring local designers of African heritage: Grace Ekall, SLG Designs, Kitenge, Corinne Willis and Panashe Sabau.

Dee J Neyo will be providing a live DJ set and you can catch the accompanying Fabric Africa exhibition. A pay bar will be available.

Find out more about the Fabric Africa fashion show

 

The Great African Blondin
Thursday 18 October, 6pm – 7.30pm
M Shed
Free entry – donations welcome | No need to book

Dr. Paul Green unveils the little-known story of Carlos Trower (1850-1889) who escaped slavery in America to become known as ‘The African Blondin’, one of the world’s greatest ever high-rope walkers. In the 1870s, he lived in Bristol and performed for thousands at Colston Hall in 1888. His daring performances supported the emancipation of enslaved people and championed many charities helping those in need throughout his career. Part of the UWE Regional History Centre seminar series and Circus 250.

Find out more about the Great African Blondin talk

 

The World in Bristol
Sunday 21 October, 10am – 4pm
Bristol Museum & Art Gallery
Free entry – donations welcome | No need to book

Celebrate Bristol’s diverse cultures with a fun day of music, dance performances, have a go activities, tours and opportunities to chat with people from around the world.

Take a tour of the museum collections, browse stalls and mingle with people from different countries now in Bristol.

Learn a Transylvanian dance with a colourful Romanian dance troupe, practice Bollywood moves with Aanchal Gupta, enjoy beautiful Chinese traditional music and dance with Tianduo Wang and Joy Cheung and much, much more.

Share your own migration history on our giant map, mix spices at the Somali Kitchen, dress up and take a selfie and pay a visit to see our Fabric Africa and Masters of Japanese Prints exhibitions.

Find out more about The World in Bristol.

 

Fabric Africa family fun
Tuesday 30 October, 11am – 3.30pm
Bristol Museum & Art Gallery
Free entry – donations welcome | No need to book

Learn about stunning African textiles and have fun making your own creations with Flo Awolaja, an artist of Nigerian descent who specialises in printmaking and textile design. Each print tells its own unique story so be inspired to tell your own. Suitable for children up to 11 years old. There will be four one-hour sessions.

Find out more about Fabric Africa family fun

 

Fabric Africa: The curator’s story
Thursday 1 November, 1.15pm – 1.45pm
Bristol Museum & Art Gallery
Free entry – donations welcome | No need to book

A chance to find out how and why the exhibition was created, hear a few of the tales behind the textiles and discuss some of the questions they raise about our own relationship to cloth and clothing.

Find out more about Fabric Africa: The curator’s story

 

Fabric Africa: Our collections
Saturday 17 November, 10am – 12.30pm and 1.30pm – 4pm (Two duplicate sessions)
Bristol Museum & Art Gallery
Free entry – donations welcome | Book in advance

Enjoy a close-up view of some of the amazing items we didn’t have room to show in our Fabric Africa exhibition. Learn about the range and diversity of African textiles within our collections and see how specialists work with African textiles.

Find out more about Fabric Africa: Our collections

 

For other Black History Month events taking place in Bristol, please visit the Bristol City Council website.