The V&A Museum is set to debut a new exhibit dedicated to honoring Black British creatives in music.
Open starting from April 18, the exhibit, titled “The Music is Black: A British Story,” looks into the last 125 years of music made by Black artists in Britain. The exhibit will specifically analyze the impact these artists have had since the early 20th century, as well as how imperialism and colonialism have shaped music.
Eight genres are set to be represented through the exhibit, including Brit-funk, 2-tone, jungle, drum & bass, UK garage, trip hop and grime. Approximately 200 artifacts will be on display. Along with the dress Shirley Bassey wore at the 2013 Oscars for her “Goldfinger” performance, the piano of Winifred Atwell, the suit Skin wore at the 1999 Glastonbury festival and the console used by JME will also be a part of “The Music is Black.”
“This exhibition begins with the purity of communication, because as a species, that is what we need,” said former music journalist and curator Jacqueline Springer, per British Vogue. “As we travel through this exhibition, the through-line is that, as a species, we have a compulsion to express. What we express has everything to do with our social timeline and also how we’re categorised, because that determines further how we are treated or maltreated.”
The exhibit comes amidst a newly released report that focused on the ongoing impact of music created by Black artists in the U.K.
Published by the non-profit UK Music, the “Black Music Means Business” report highlighted the impact of music created by Black creatives across the past thirty years. Per the report, music by Black artists has contributed to 80%, or 24.5 billion pounds, out of 30 billion pounds made in the UK market since the 1990s.
Despite the money that music by Black artists generates, Black musicians earn an average of 1,155 pounds a month. This amounts to a 21% pay gap when compared to the average earnings of 1,454 pounds a month for white musicians. Overall, the pay gap is broader than any other industry in the country. The report also highlighted a lack of representation in the music industry. As of now, only 25% of the industry is composed of BIPOC artists.
“This report is important. It’s fundamental. We all know the importance of Black Music and culture in this room, but now we can tell everybody else,” said CEO Kanya King per a statement. “We’ve seen its influence, we know its impact and today we finally have more data to prove it.”
