Neil Kenlock | Lost Legacies Of The British Black Panthers

Neil Kenlock

Please join us for this timely and important exhibition of the prolific, Jamaican- born Windrush photographer Neil Kenlock. Hosted over two Brixton locations, Photofusion and 198 Contemporary Arts and Learning, Lost Legacies of the British Black Panthers showcases photographs that evidence the struggles of the Windrush Generation as told through the photography of Neil Kenlock.

A show about community activism in Brixton during the 1970s and ‘80s, as well as leadership in a time of adversity, the dual site exhibition tells a story and history through portraits and civil protest photography. Photofusion displays portraits of the civil rights leaders, lawyers, activists and community icons of the time, while 198 hosts the images that define flashpoints in the history of the civil rights struggle. Each site, at its core, represents the hopes and struggles of a generation.

Inspired by the work of the Black Panthers in America, and spirited by a group of local Brixton residents, the British Black Panthers sought to organise food clubs, education programmes, a library and a safe space on Shakespeare Road in Brixton. Kenlock captured their activities as a means of documenting this campaign and amassed boxes and boxes of negatives that also contain portraits of his friends, heroes and leaders of the time.

To say a legacy is lost is to say we have forgotten what a generation fought for. The legacy of the British Black Panthers as captured by Neil Kenlock is a poignant testament to the struggle the Windrush Generation had to endure and overcome to thrive during the ‘70s and ‘80s. In direct honour of the British Black Panthers, exhibition visitors can ride, walk, rail or bus down the former frontline of Railton Road to observe the collection in its two parts.