Description:This photograph of a boy with a flag taken in Handsworth Park comes from the Vanley Burke Archive. It was part Vanley's first exhibition 'Handsworth from the Inside' which was originally exhibited at Grove Lane Junior School in 1979 and then later exhibited at various national venues including the Commonwealth Institute, London, and the Ikon Gallery, Birmingham, in 1983.
The exhibition consists of images which are part of Vanley's ongoing documentation of the daily life and experiences of black communities in Birmingham, and specifically at this time in Handsworth. His aim in the documentation process was not principally to show the black community to the mainstream audience, but rather to reflect the community back to itself. It was a response to the absence of images of black people in the mainstream media, and a way of documenting and representing the community from within. This is in contrast to earlier representations of the black community in Birmingham by people who were outsiders and not members of the community.
For futher information about Vanley and his archive go to the 'Collections' and 'How to Create an Archive' pages on this site.
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