Africa Centre, London

King Street, Covent Garden, 2007

The Africa Centre, London was founded in 1964 at 38 King Street, Covent Garden, closed in 2013, and relocated to Richmix (at 35–47 Bethnal Green Road) in East London, but now has a permanent home in Southwark - 66 Great Suffolk St, London SE1 0BL. It is a registered charity.[1]

The Africa Centre was opened at the Grade II listed 38 King Street in 1964,[2] by Kenneth Kaunda.[3] The building had once been a banana warehouse.[4]

Archbishop Desmond Tutu used to meet Thabo Mbeki at the bar, and described it as a home to "to all who are Africans, and all those who have a care for the interests of the continent and its people".[3]

The Centre held frequent exhibitions. Five Black Women in 1983, with Sonia Boyce, Claudette Johnson, Lubaina Himid, Houria Niati and Veronica Ryan[5][6] was the first "widely respected" exhibition featuring black women artists.[7]

In 2005, the London Art and Artists Guide described it as a "very lively arts centre", that held classes in dance, movement, and literature, and hosted meetings in the evenings; and the Calabash Restaurant was considered "well worth a visit".[8] The bookshop sold books published only in Africa, as well as "excellent handicrafts and sculpture".[9]

In August 2012, the building at 38 King Street was sold to the property developer, Capital & Counties for an estimated £12 million.[10][11] There was a concerted campaign to save the Centre at its original premises, supported by Desmond Tutu, Wole Soyinka, Ngugi Wa Thiong'o, Yinka Shonibare, Bonnie Greer, Sokari Douglas Camp and others.[10]

The Africa Centre maintains a link with Covent Garden by having an annual festival in August on the Piazza, since 2013.[12]

Centre directors

References

  1. ↑ Charity Commission
  2. ↑ "Covent Garden's Africa Centre may become retail premises". BBC News. Retrieved 2016-03-07.
  3. 1 2 Mark Brown. "How London's Africa Centre could be saved | Art and design". The Guardian. Retrieved 2016-03-07.
  4. ↑ West Africa. West Africa Publishing Company, Limited. 1966. p. 1263. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
  5. ↑ "Box 9 Contents – Press Releases 1983–89". Making Histories Visible. Retrieved 2016-03-07.
  6. ↑ Arnold, Dana; Corbett, David Peters (2016). A Companion to British Art: 1600 to the Present. Wiley-Blackwell. p. 305. ISBN 1405136294.
  7. ↑ "Diaspora-artists: View details". New.diaspora-artists.net. Retrieved 2016-03-07.
  8. ↑ Heather Waddell (November 2005). London Art and Artists Guide. London Art and Artists Guid. p. 199. ISBN 978-0-9520004-6-4. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
  9. ↑ The Crisis Publishing Company, Inc. (April 1986). The Crisis. The Crisis Publishing Company, Inc. p. 63. ISSN 0011-1422. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
  10. 1 2 3 4 "The blog of the Save The Africa Centre Campaign". Savetheafricacentre.wordpress.com. Retrieved 2016-03-07.
  11. ↑ BBC News Online
  12. ↑ "The Africa Centre Summer Festival 2015". Africacentrefestival.com. 2015-08-01. Retrieved 2016-03-07.
  13. ↑ Margaret Mary Feeny, MBE

External links

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