Programme:

Omega Rising Women of Rastafari, 1988, Dir. D. Elmina Davis, 52 min 

A ground-breaking documentary, Omega Rising Women of Rastafari was the first film to explore and challenge myths and stereotypes about the Rastafarian movement; and give voice to women of Rastafari, who speak for themselves about their relationship to the movement and its development.

Grove Music, 1981, Dir. Henry Martin & Steve Shaw, 48 min 

This documentary offers rare insight into the Notting Hill Carnival in the early 1980s, with political context to the annual event alongside interviews and live music from reggae bands from Ladbroke Grove including Aswad, Sons of Jah, Junior Browne during the Notting Hill Carnival 1980.

Bio:

Rianna Jade Parker is a British-born Jamaican writer, curator, and researcher based in South London. Her historical research and archival specialisms encompass Black feminist thought, visual cultures, modernity and Caribbean studies. She has presented at the South London Gallery, Tate BritainÙ– and Tate Modern, 180 The Strand, Somerset House, Autograph ABP and the Royal College of Art, among others. Her writing has been published in ARTnews, Frieze, Artforum, Aperture, Art in America, Artsy and BOMB, including critiques on Frank Bowling, Simone Leigh, Kara Walker and Steve McQueen. As an author, she has written catalogue essays for institutions and publishers including Phaidon Press, Stephen Friedman Gallery, Tate Liverpool, Thames and Hudson, Camden Art Centre, Charleston House, and the Hayward Gallery. She is a Contributing Editor for Frieze magazine and a founding member of interdisciplinary art collective Thick/er Black Lines, whose work was exhibited in the landmark exhibition Get Up, Stand Up Now: Generations of Black Creative Pioneers. Her first book A Brief History of Black British Art is forthcoming from Tate Publishing in 2021.