A new street art mural has appeared in Swansea city centre celebrating prominent Black British artists. The new installation on Kings Lane in the city centre is a collaboration between local artists and Coastal Housing and showcases artists you may not have heard about before who are doing ground-breaking work.
The mural was painted by Melissa Rodrigues and Joel Morris who are both graduates of University of Wales Trinity St David. Melissa Rodrigues is a Swansea-based fine artist who grew up in Portugal before moving to Swansea to study.
The 35-year-old artist, who runs an art group in Swansea called M L Art promoting the artwork of Black artists, wanted to showcase the people who have inspired her. While studying fine art at university, Melissa said students were made to study Western thinkers who were mainly old, white men. You can get more Swansea news and other story updates straight to your inbox by subscribing to our newsletters here.
Taking it upon herself to do her own research, Melissa said she was inspired by Black British artists such as British-Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare and British Afro-Caribbean artist Sonia Boyce. When she was asked to paint a mural in Swansea city centre with fellow graduate Joel, Melissa took it as an opportunity to showcase these influential artists who she had worked so hard to highlight at university.
On the four artists whose faces are now featured in the city centre, Melissa said: "They are all art educators and have been teaching around the UK. All of them are part of the Royal Academy of Arts which is something I think every artist in the UK aspires to be a part of."
"These people are inspirations for me and for Joel as art students-to see ourselves represented and believe that we could also achieve the same things that they achieved."
Photography and arts graduate Joel said he wanted to use the mural as a way of showcasing modern Black British artists who may not be familiar faces to the British public which include Yinka Shonibare, Sonia Boyce, Lubaina Himid and Chris Ofili.
“Sonia Boyce is a prime example of this," Joel said, "being the first black British female artist to represent Great Britain at the famed Venice Biennale international exhibition."
Melissa added that by combining stencil work with fabrics and patterns that are seen to represent African culture despite originating in Western Europe, she wanted to directly address issues of identity resulting from a colonial past. Although neither of the artists are street artists, they worked together to create something that can be enjoyed by the people of Swansea.
A spokesperson from Coastal Housing Group said: “Coastal has supported Race Council Cymru’s Black History Wales programme as a sponsor for some years but we wanted to find additional ways of promoting equality, diversity and inclusion in the communities where we work.
“Arts and culture is central to how Coastal undertakes regeneration activity and we’re therefore well-positioned to provide this platform for representation”.
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