Sweet Patootee Arts: Turning Point

This exhibition has now finished.

From the neglected heritage of early 1920s British Caribbean, Tony T from Sweet Patootee Arts has crafted Turning Point, a series of four short films inspired by oral histories about the Black Caribbean experience after the First World War.

High-profile actors and rising stars perform Caribbean melodrama and comedy to camera with a backdrop of projected archive footage and a 3D soundscape of community participant voices.

Featuring performances from Paterson Joseph (The Beach, Vigil, Noughts + Crosses), Suzette Llewellyn (Holby City, Eastenders, Surgical Spirit), Ashley D. Gayle and Veronica Beatrice Lewis.

The use of folk culture and comedy reawakens a hidden age of revival and New Negro* rebellion.  Real experiences of Black women and First World War veterans have inspired four dramatic vignettes, interwoven with archive imagery, text, and rare folk songs. The result is a call to arms: triumphant Black British heritage waits to be celebrated!

­*The use of New Negro relates to a post-First World War shift in the British Caribbean. Game-changing new Black pride and self-esteem of ordinary Black people trapped at the bottom of the social ladder.

About Sweet Patootee Arts

Tony T was born in London’s East End. His Caribbean Black heritage and Britain’s colonial history are touchstones for storytelling. The stories explore neglected journeys of Diaspora, identity, race, class, and gender. Public participation drives an interdisciplinary practice framed by his research and writing. Tony’s work embraces personal testimony, filmmaking, performance, sound design and new media.

In 1996 Tony established production company Sweet Patootee Ltd with Rebecca Goldstone. They launched non-profit company Sweet Patootee Arts in 2017.