Five Exhibits Worth Seeking Out
1. Winifred Atwell's Upright Piano Atwell was the first Black artist to achieve a UK number one, a Trinidad-born pianist who dominated the British charts in the early 1950s with a joyful boogie-woogie style that made her a genuine national phenomenon. Her piano, etched with the carvings of her fans, sets the tone perfectly: a Black woman at the top of British popular music in 1952.
Winifred Atwell’s piano © Geoff Sutton
2. Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's Conducting Batons The batons of the pioneering Black British composer date from the early 1900s. Coleridge-Taylor achieved international renown in his lifetime yet has been largely written out of the canon. These elegant objects are a reclamation.
3. Joan Armatrading's Childhood Guitar Armatrading's first guitar sits among the exhibition's most intimate objects, a small instrument that connects the woman who became one of Britain's greatest singer-songwriters to the girl who taught herself to play. There is something almost unbearably moving about it.
Joan Armatrading’s guitar © Geoff Sutton
4. Legendary Outfits Fabulous display of outfits worn by stars including 2 Tone singer Pauline Black, an orange bodysuit and helmet worn by Poly Styrene, Skin’s Daniel Pollitt “Clit Rock” suit and the Comme des Garcons outfit worn by Little Simz in 2023.
Pauline Black’s 2 Tone outfit © Geoff Sutton
5. Video Montage After a series of punchy videos throughout the exhibition, a final montage brings to life the great songs and artists from the show.
