Ajamu X (born 1963 in

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

) is a British artist, curator, archivist and activist. He is best known for his fine art

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...

which explores same-sex desire, and the Black male body, and his work as an archivist and activist to document the lives and experiences of black

LGBTQ ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

people in the United Kingdom (UK).

Early life

Ajamu was born in 1963 in

to Jamaican parents. His grandparents arrived to England in 1958 and his parents followed in 1962. Ajamu came out as gay to his parents in his late teens and describes their reaction as "impressively progressive for the times". He studied Black

History History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

and

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

. While in Leeds, he and two friends created the magazine ''BLAC'', an acronym for Black Liberation Activist Core. In October 1987, after seeing it advertised in the newspaper ''

Caribbean Times ''The Caribbean Times'' was a British weekly newspaper that was first published in 1981 by Hansib Publications, a publishing house for Caribbean, African and Asian writers and their communities, founded in London by Guyanese-born businessman A ...

'', Ajamu attended the first, and only, National Black Gay Men's Conference held at the Black

Lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

and Gay Centre in Camden. By January the following year, he had moved to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. He was given the name Ajamu in 1991; it means "he who fights for what he believes".

Career

Ajamu's work often highlights stories of black

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

people who he feels are often marginalised from mainstream British Society; additionally he has chosen to focus on those who are black and openly "out" and have been accepted by their families. Ajamu has said he rejects the claim that Jamaican culture is particularly homophobic and believes that homophobia exists across cultures and families of all backgrounds. He often speaks of his work as a "sex activist"; he has run "sex parties for men who want to have sex with men" since the 1990s, and same-sex desire and pleasure are recurring themes in his photography. His first major exhibition ''Black Bodyscapes'', in 1994, focused on the private sexual realities of black

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

men. More recent projects include ''Fierce: Portraits of Young Black Queers''. an exhibition of 24 portraits of a "…new generation of Black and proudly out young, emerging and established talent" at London's

Guildhall Art Gallery The Guildhall Art Gallery houses the art collection of the City of London, England. The museum is located in the Moorgate area of the City of London. It is a stone building in a semi-Gothic style intended to be sympathetic to the historic Guild ...

in 2014 and ''I Am For You Can Enjoy'' with Khalil West, at

Contact Theatre Contact is an arts organisation in Manchester, England that focuses on youth leadership. History Contact was founded in 1972 by Barry Sheppard (General Manager of what was then Manchester University Theatre) and Hugh Hunt (Professor of Drama) ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, in 2016, which uses photography and video, to explore the lives of

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are not heterosexual or cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against those with same-sex desires or relationships in the late 19th century. Beginning in the lat ...

Black male sex workers and their clients. Ajamu has described himself as an "artist who has created an archive" and, in addition to his art practice, continues to document black LGBT experiences. In 2000 Ajamu and

Topher Campbell Topher Campbell is a filmmaker, artist and writer who has created a range of works in broadcasting, film, theatre, television and performance. His works focus on issues of sexuality, masculinity, and the city, particularly in relation to race, h ...

co-founded ''rukus! Federation'' an "arts company dedicated to celebrating and showcasing the best in challenging, provocative works by black

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

, gay, bisexual and trans-gender artists nationally and internationally." Ajamu was the Archive Manager "The Black LGBT Archive Project", a major initiative to develop an archive collection on "Black

, Gay,

Bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whi ...

and Trans-Gender heritage, history and lived experience in the UK". In 2008 Ajamu co-curated the exhibition ''Outside Edge: a journey through Black lesbian and gay history'' at the

Museum of Docklands The Museum of London Docklands (formerly known as Museum in Docklands), based in West India Quay, explains the history of the River Thames, the growth of Port of London and the docks historical link to the Atlantic slave trade. The museum is pa ...

. The ''rukus! Black Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Cultural Archive'' was deposited at

London Metropolitan Archives The London Metropolitan Archives (LMA) is the principal local government archive repository for the Greater London area, including the City of London: it is the largest county record office in the United Kingdom. It was established under its pr ...

in 2010. Ajamu was the subject of Topher Campbell's first film ''The Homecoming: A Short Film about Ajamu'' in 1995. The documentary film ''Brixton Recreation with Ajamu,'' directed by Danny Solle, featured his experiences of cruising and sex as an out Black gay man in Brixton. His fine art photography is in national and international collections including the Gallery of Modern Art in Glasgow,

Autograph ABP Autograph ABP, previously known as the Association of Black Photographers, is a British-based international, non-profit-making, photographic arts agency. History Autograph was originally established in London in 1988. Founders included the photog ...

, and the

Neuberger Museum of Art Neuberger Museum of Art is located in Purchase, New York, United States. It is affiliated with Purchase College, part of the State University of New York system. It is the nation's tenth-largest university museum. The museum is one of 14 sites on ...

in New York. Ajamu is co-chair of Centred, an LGBTQ community organisation, in London's Soho.

Selected exhibitions

* 2019 ''Diasporic Self – Black Togetherness as Lingua Franca,'' Framer Framed, Amsterdam (14 dec – 17 feb 2019) * 2016 ''Khalil West and Ajamu - I Am For You Can Enjoy'',

, Manchester (4 February - 18 June 2016) * 2013 ''Fierce - Portraits of Young Black LGBTQ people by Ajamu'', Guildhall Art Gallery, London * 2012 ''Future Histories'', Street Level Photoworks, Glasgow * 2011 ''Queer Self Portraits Now'', Fred, London * 2010 ''Photoshow'',

Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art The Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art (LLM), formerly the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art, is a visual art museum in SoHo, Lower Manhattan, New York City. It mainly collects, preserves and exhibits visual arts created by LGBTQ artists or ar ...

, New York * 2009 ''Familiar Strangers'', Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow * 2004 ''Hidden Histories'', Walsall New Art Gallery, England * 1997 ''Transforming the Crown'', Caribbean Cultural Centre, New York. * 1994 ''Black Bodyscapes'', Camerawork, London * 1992 ''From Where I Stand'', Brixton Art Gallery, London As Curator: * 2016 ''Curatorial Resident'', Visual AIDS, New York * 2008 ''Outside Edge: a journey through black British lesbian and gay history'',

, London

References

External links

*
rukus! Federation
official website
''rukus! Black Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Cultural Archive''
at

''rukus! Black Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Cultural Archive'' finding aid

AIM25 AIM25 is a non-profit making collaborative archive project; a single point of networked access to collection level descriptions of the archives of over one hundred higher education institutions, learned societies and specialist archives within t ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ajamu X Archivists 1963 births Living people Black British artists Black British photographers British activists British curators Gay photographers British gay artists LGBT Black British people LGBT history in the United Kingdom People from Huddersfield Photographers from Yorkshire 21st-century English LGBT people British LGBT photographers

Early life

Career

Selected exhibitions

References

Further reading

External links