Department: Tate Britain Curatorial
Hosts: Chris Stephens, Lead Curator, Modern British Art, Head of Displays; and Elena Crippa, Curator, Modern British Art
Allison’s research focus was on Caribbean artists who migrated to the UK between the 1940s-1960s, the so-called ‘Windrush Generation’. In particular, she carried out research on the Guyanese artist Denis Williams. This was aided by Anne Walmsley’s recent donation of her papers - which include extensive research on Williams - to the Tate Library and Archive.
Allison collaborated with another 2016 Fellow, Susana Vargas Cervantes, on the recent gift from the Eric and Louise Franck London Collection, acquired through Autograph ABP, of photographs documenting Black communities in London.
Allison and Susana identified and interviewed Brixton-based artists who contributed to the body of research material. Their research led Tate to recognise the importance of understanding the social context for this group of artists, and helped frame the critical questions for a Tate Britain display planned for late 2016.
Versia Harris, They say you can dream a thing more than once 2013. Installation view from the exhibition This Quagmire (2015) at Morningside Gallery, Edinburgh, curated by Punch Creative Arena.
Further collaboration with Tate
2016
Stan Firm Inna Inglan
Allison, Susana and curator Elena Crippa subsequently co-curated Stan Firm Inna Inglan (2016–17) at Tate Britain. This display brought together works from the 1960s and 1970s by eight photographers: Bandele ‘Tex’ Ajetunmobi, Raphael Albert, James Barnor, Colin Jones, Neil Kenlock, Dennis Morris, Syd Shelton and Al Vandenberg.
Their photographs document the joy and self-empowerment of individuals who travelled from the Caribbean region and West Africa to live in London, as well as the racial tension and exclusion that defined their life in the capital.
Allison and Susana returned to London in November 2016 to participate in the installation of the display and to reconnect with artists James Barnor, Colin Jones, Neil Kenlock and Syd Shelton, who captivated the audience with insights and memories at an intimate celebration of the opening.
In May 2017 Allison brought a group of 14 Studio Art BFA students and faculty from Barbados to Tate Britain. The group visited the Stan Firm Inna Inglan display and were joined by Neil Kenlock and Syd Shelton, who spoke to the students about their work.
2019
Frank Bowling symposium: My Guyana to Great Thames
In June 2019 Allison contributed to a panel during the My Guyana to Great Thames symposium led by Tate’s Public Programmes team as part of the Frank Bowling exhibition at Tate Britain. The Brooks Programme supported Allison’s travel and one of her 2016 Fellowship Hosts, curator Elena Crippa, also took part in the events.
2021
Life Between Islands and Liberation Begins in the Imagination
Allison contributed a chapter to the catalogue for the exhibition Life Between Islands: Caribbean-British Art 1950s-Now, which took place at Tate Britain between 1 December 2021 and 3 April 2022, curated by Alex Farquharson and David A. Bailey. The title of her chapter is ‘Comin Rite Thru: Masquerade and Marches, Resistance and Revolution.’
In conjunction with the exhibition, Allison worked with David A. Bailey to co-ed the anthology Liberation Begins in the Imagination: Writings on Caribbean British Art, which received a Historians of British Art Book Award in 2023.
2023
Rehang of permanent Tate Britain Collection: Making space for Caribbean-British Art
Allison interviewed her Fellowship Host, curator Elena Crippa, on the recent rehang of the permanent collection at Tate Britain for the e-journal Faires Monde. The article, ‘Making space for Caribbean-British Art’, highlights the many Caribbean artists featured in the rehang including Denis Williams.
Biography
Allison Thompson (Ph.D.) is a writer and curator based in Barbados. She works with a number of cultural organisations in Barbados and the wider Caribbean. She is the President of AICA Southern Caribbean, Deputy Chair of the Board of the Barbados National Art Gallery and serves on the editorial board of the e-journal Faire Mondes.
Publications she has co-authored and co-edited include Art in Barbados: What Kind of Mirror Image (1999), Curating in the Caribbean (2102) and most recently, Liberation Begins in the Imagination: Writings on Caribbean British Art (2021).