Vanley Burke is frequently defined as the Godfather of Black British photography. His practice represents one of the largest photographic records of the Caribbean Diaspora in Britain, documenting an important era of migration and settlement in Birmingham from the late 1960s onwards. 

Acclaimed Art Historian, Eddie Chambers, in his text ‘An Inglan Story, An Inglan History’ for the catalogue accompanying Vanley Burke’s retrospective, ‘By the Rivers of Birminam’, at the Midlands Arts Centre in 2012, describes the Artist as,

‘…responsible for producing many highly engaging photographs of Birmingham’s Caribbean communities through the course of the later decades of the 20th century. These photographs – depicting Black people at work, at play, at church, on the streets, and in their homes – have become key documents chronicling the lives of Black people in the country’s second largest city…’

After moving from Jamaica to the Handsworth area of Birmingham in the late 1960s, Burke began his photographic career with the intention of constructing Black history from his own perspective by empowering individuals through photography. In his own words, he decided that ‘history has a starting point and that this moment, right then, would be the starting point of our community’s history from my perspective.’ (see, Vanley Burke’s Handsworth from Inside Series, 1968-1982 and the Courtauld Institute of Art’s Unquiet Moments project, 2020-2021) . Through photography Vanley Burke has created an invaluable artistic record of the communities that surround him, which document historic moments and celebrate individuals who are present within these frames and changing contexts.

The Feeney Archive Project will take place in Birmingham, where Vanley Burke’s extensive and extraordinary archive of photographic prints, negatives, research material, correspondence and ephemera, is currently stored. Burke has stated that ‘The idea was to photograph everything between birth and death…I live as part of the community I photograph and I’m very much aware of what’s happening around me.’ (see, Vanley Burke, Arts Council Collection article, October 2019). It is our aim to support Vanley Burke in shaping his legacy as he defines it, and to transform the archive into an inspirational resource for present and future generations.

Vanley Burke’s practice centres on the view that people should have access to their own histories and the documents that illustrate them. Art360 is excited to deliver this important project, which aims to surface the materials, contexts and histories, present in the artist’s archive and to preserve Burke’s work and legacy as an invaluable part of the UK’s cultural heritage.

Art360 has been working with Vanley Burke through the Feeney Archive Project, supported by the John Feeney Charitable Trust (2021-2023) and Artists’ Legacies in the Museum, a project run collaboratively with the International Curators Forum and supported by Art Fund. We have supported extensive archival work with archivist, Clare Hewitt, a documentary film by Jonathan Bartley and a research residency in the archive and study day at Ikon Gallery with Tosin Adeosun.