This article written by Gemma Hargraves, Deputy Head – Safeguarding, Inclusion & Wellbeing at the Crypt School looks at Black History and integrating it into history curriculums.

Reading Reframing Blackness by Alayo Akinkugbe during the summer break forced me to reconsider what I see in galleries and public art spaces, and what is not seen. Akinkugbe questions the way that Blackness has been written into and out of art history. Noting that in the west, art history is mostly written and studied by white people. She notes that decolonisation is a prominent topic in universities, and I would add also in school History departments. There is plenty in the book to appeal to history teachers, even those without a particular interest in art history.  Mention of a painting traditionally assumed to be Olaudah Equiano (and featuring in many a history lesson for this purpose) made me sit up and recognise that these are issues about which all history teachers should be aware. Additionally a modern reimagining of Napoleon Crossing the Alps by Kehinde Wiley (2005) was impactful for me as I’d written about this very painting by Jaques Louis David is a previous Teaching History Cunning Plan completely unaware of the newer interpretation. 

Several sites in Gloucestershire confirmed Akinkugbe’s interpretation. A day after finishing the book I ventured to Cotswold Sculpture Park near Cirencester. Whilst many of the sculptures are inspired by nature or abstract ideas, I found three sculptures of nude Black women by Paris-born sculptor, Lucianne Lassalle. The images of nude Black women appear confident, strong and perhaps intentionally challenging what Akinkugbe discusses in reference to The Dinner Party (1974-9) when the only Black woman featured – Sojourner Truth – shows faces rather than a vulva which was used to represent white women in the piece.  Rankine suggested that sexuality of Black women has been misplaced throughout Western art history and this continues. (Claudine Rankine ‘Among the Undressed’ Harper’s Magazine Aug 2022)

Later in summer a visit to Snowshill Manor, the “unconventional home of the eccentric Charles Wade” revealed artefacts from around the world and the Wilson Museum on Wheels (in Cheltenham) provided some interesting local artefacts. Neither placed any focus on, or ascribed significance to, Black history. But that’s not to say it wasn’t present in these places as part of the unremarkable history of the region, as we know Black Tudors were present in everyday life in Gloucestershire/ South Gloucestershire. 

As we reflect on Black History Month we must ensure Black history and heritage doesn’t get relegated to a token assembly once a year. Now is the time to reflect, build, and do even better next time, and all through the year. As Maya Angelou said “You did what you knew how to do, and when you knew better, you did better.”

There’s certainly scope for a cross curricular art history topic based on Akinkugbe’s Reframing Blackness – a global issue through a local lens.