Samuel Ross, founder of British menswear fashion label A-Cold-Wall*, has announced the winning recipients for his Black British and POC Artists Grant, 2021 programme. 10 grants, with £2500 offered for each allocation, have been awarded to Black British and POC artists of exceptional talent, spanning Sculpture, Painting, Literature, Writing, Photography, Fashion, Industrial Design, Furniture, Film, VR + AR.
The winning recipients of the Black British and POC Artists Grant, 2021 are:
The winning recipient announcement follows three grant programmes which Ross launched in June 2020, alongside a Black Lives Matter financial aid program, in the wake of the death of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, and subsequential protests against institutionalised racism which echoed around the world. ‘We need more visibility and collaboration between the arts and design institution and black artists, the design industry must engage,’ Ross told Wallpaper* last year, when he was joined by artist Daniel Arsham, who pledged an additional contribution of £25,000 towards Ross' grant programme. Ross and Arsham selected 10 grant recipients, including Ronan Mckenzie, a photographer, fashion designer and gallerist from the UK, Limbo Accra, an experimental architect from Ghana, and Fumani Khumalo, a painter from South Africa.
‘Fundamentally, the vanguard of Britain’s soft-power, on a global stage, is missing far too many Black, POC, non-linear voices on both the front and back end of operations. We’re missing perspectives, contributions and creativity that level beyond commercial virtue placements, score sheets and influencer fees,' Ross says in a Foreward to 2021's announcement. ‘Already a reality amongst the marginalised, barely visible – often invisible – communities that form Britain’s modern society, it seems implausible to not embed a layer of structure and coordination to begin changing this reality, step by step, year on year.'
The winning grants were chosen under the advisement and council of the Design Museum, Royal College of Art and the British Fashion Council. Adds Ross, ‘We believe in developing the creative landscape through talent recognition, academic integration, advocacy, institutional support, long-term partnerships, and long form dialogues with leadership institutions who recognise that optimised change comes through infrastructure and design thinking.'
Reman Sadani
Hsi-Nong Huang
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