Blog Archives

In 2018, the Heritage Lottery Fund awarded the Kenlock Archive a grant to do the Expectations Project, which aimed to increase public access to Neil's photographs of black British community leaders in the 1960s and 1970s. The project was managed by creative director and curator Emelia Kenlock, who produced a touring exhibition and other activities noted below. Three years later the project is still having a huge impact on communities across the UK and beyond. Thank you to all the National Lottery player to helped make the project possible! Project activities that have an impact on communities: Training...


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Welcome to another diary entry from the Neil Kenlock Archive. Last month was just like the previous, lots of interesting requests and enquiries about the works. We had students from various universities, who were searching for images that can help support their end of year projects. This is something that myself and Neil are extremely passionate about. We work with a range of students throughout the year, many of which incorporate his work into their dissertations or use interview content to explore concepts and ideas. Neil has always found power in telling stories through the lens, and sees his work...


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Welcome to another archive diary entry! This month I have been reviewing a small selection of Neil’s work that was taken in his home country Jamaica in 1975. The series of photos were captured during a trip that he made for an international conference and other events. As we discussed each photo more of his fascinating memories were uncovered. For example, we looked at some photos of huge corporate buildings, which Neil described as representing the ‘new’ Jamaica of the 1970s. He pointed out that it was important that those who left the island in search of work and a new life before the wave...


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We have some really exciting news that Neil would like to share with everyone! We are pleased to announce the unveiling of a blue heritage plaque in honour of Choice FM, the first and only black radio station with a London wide commercial licence. For those of you that are not aware, Neil was a co-founder of the station. On March 31st 1990, he and a group of pioneers launched the station on the 96.9FM frequency. This year marked the 31st anniversary and to commemorate its history the Nubian Jak Community Trust organised the unveiling with co-founder and photographer Neil alongside campaigner...


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Welcome to our monthly archive diary blog. As you may have guessed Neil’s archive has a range of different items including digital images, negatives, magazines, books, equipment and more. So managing the archive is very interesting as you come across a different item with a fascinating story every day! Last month we saw the release of the BBC documentary titled Black Power: A British Story of Resistance, which featured some of Neil’s archive. We were approached by film director George Amponsah last summer who was looking for images that would give an insight into work of the UK Black Panther...


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Welcome to another archive diary entry. For those of you who have an interest in archiving photography, I hope to give you an insight into some of the work we are doing behind the scenes. Neil has a lot of images online that have been taken at exhibitions and from books but there seems to be a few that really continue to spark interesting conversation. So this month we had an intern work with the team to gain some experience as a creative assistant and find our which images were popular. Internships are always a great way for someone to explore a collection and learn what areas of the creative...


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Welcome to another archive diary entry. This time around I wanted to talk a bit about some of the activities that took place at the end of last month. One of which was the talk that Neil did with Goldsmiths University. The event was scheduled for early last year but was postponed because of the pandemic. Neil and the team at Goldsmiths really wanted to do a physical event but due to the closure of all universities that just wasn’t possible. However, all was not lost. Thanks to Zoom the event took place online and was attended by people all across the country! Eddie Otchere led the conversation...


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Welcome to the first day of 2021. This is the first of many posts that follow the journey of the Kenlock archive. I will be giving you an insight into what happens behind the scenes of this website and beyond! I thought it would be nice to take you on the ride with me, so you can understand what it is like managing an archive that has historic and community value. This is also a way for those of you who love Neil’s work to learn more about the images, all of which tell amazing stories. Some of my posts will be short and some will be long depending on what is happening as it can get really busy...


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Neil Kenlock’s HLF Expectations Project launched in spring 2018, showcasing a selection of his photographs that focused on black British leadership in the 1960s and 1970s. The key project activities were delivered by March 2019, which included a touring exhibition, website launch and a series of publications. The project was very well received by both the black community, the media and the arts industry.  The next stage of the project is the legacy phase, which is just as or perhaps even more important than the delivery stage. Often projects are completed and they become distant memories...


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This summer Neil Kenlock will be officially launching his ‘Expectations’ book The final element of his successful Heritage Lottery Fund Expectations project has now been completed in the form of a book. The 2019 publication features some of Neil Kenlock’s most striking images from the Expectations exhibition at the Black Cultural Archives, Islington Central Library, plus much more! To find out more about his book, please visit the Expectations Project website here.


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