The Caribbean Artists Movement
Following an influx of Caribbeans to participate in both World War I and World War II, the UK government issued a call to its colonies for workers to aid in the reconstruction of a nation ravaged by the effects of war. This initiative spanned from 1948 to 1971 and held the promise of a fresh start and newfound opportunities. The majority of those who answered the call took on roles as manual labourers, including cleaners and nurses in the newly-established NHS. Yet, this group also included highly skilled and educated individuals, including academics, artists, and creatives.
In spite of the call for immigration, a significant portion of the UK’s population greeted the arrival of new cultures with hostility and apprehension. These communities faced pervasive racial violence and discrimination, with signs openly displaying “no coloureds” and “no West Indians” – barring them from accessing housing, employment, shops, pubs, and restaurants. Even among those who managed to secure employment, Black workers were often compelled to work longer hours for reduced wages, or found themselves at the forefront of job losses during the economic uncertainty of the 1960s.
By the mid 1960’s, the US and UK Black Civil Rights movements were gaining traction. The UK Race Relations Act was passed in 1965, and across the seas, colonies in the Caribbean, Africa and Asia had been demanding and gaining their own independence.
It was amongst this multifaceted time of unrest and emancipation, that the London-based Caribbean Artists Movement (CAM) was formed. CAM was founded in 1966 by Trinidadian-born poet and political activist John La Rose, Jamaican writer Andrew Salkey, and Barbadian historian and poet Edward Kamau Brathwaite. The group aimed to unite artists and academics from the islands, bringing together not only the people, but their culture of creativity in a way that could be celebrated and promoted in the UK.
In the article ‘The Caribbean Artists Movement’, in Caribbean Quarterly, (Vol. 14, No. 1/2, A Survey of the Arts, March – June 1968), Edward Kamau Brathwaite reflected on this time, saying;
“I had recently arrived from the Caribbean on study leave to Britain, and as a writer myself, wanted, quite naturally, to get in touch with as many Caribbean artists as possible. But where were they? The novelists’ books were being regularly published; at the Commonwealth Arts Festival I had seen work by a few painters, designers and sculptors from the Caribbean; but no one seemed to know how to get in touch with them. In addition it seemed to me that our West Indian artists were not participating significantly in the cultural life of the country that had become their home.
Since 1950, nearly every West Indian novelist worth the name had come to London and more than a hundred books had come from their typewriters and pens. But despite this, the British public didn’t seem to be very much aware of the nature and value of this contribution.
…This situation, it seemed to me, was something to be deplored. The isolation of West Indian writers from each other and from the society in which they lived could eventually only stultify development and could do nothing to contribute to perhaps the most important problem of our times – the problem of the future of race relations in Britain.”
Active until 1972, CAM both attracted members from the Caribbean and those interested in the arts and attitudes of the region. Its leadership and members hosted events, conferences and talks across London. Amongst these events included the group exhibition ‘Caribbean Artists in England’, held at the Commonwealth Institute Gallery in 1971. Exhibiting artists included celebrated Jamaican sculptor Ronald Moody,who initially came to the UK in 1923 and studied dentistry. Other noted artists included Barbadian painter Paul Dash, and Jamaican artists Vernon Tong, Karl ‘Jerry’ Craig, Errol Lloyd, and Kofi Kayiga (then known as Ricardo Wilkins).
The Caribbean Artists Movement became a uniting and elevating force for both established and emerging visual artists travelling from the islands – including Trinidadian textile designer, Althea McNish, St Lucian abstract painter Winston Branch, and Guyanese painter Aubrey Williams.
