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Phase 5

April 2018 – September 2019.

The philosophy of SoN is rooted in evolution; constantly building on what came before. This contributes to the academic practice of Shades of Noir tenfold, and particularly within this phase given its size, it is prevalent in the development of the ToR publications; being inclusive of global contributions, key resources and student perspectives. 

Shades of Noir continues to intentionally take up space; challenging the institution as well as the sector as a whole and the People, Policy and Process within them. These interventions have revealed further inequalities within institutions, particularly bringing to light the problematic approach to Race-based grievances for both staff and students at UAL.

Outcomes. 

Student Development:

A number of the Phase 5 team have already reflected on their Shades of Noir experience. The team is primarily made up of students and alumni of UAL.

We continued to invest in a large number of ArtTemps students and recent graduates within this phase, with fifteen in total. We continued to build on our team structure and outputs from Phase Four and were able to invest in our team by running an extended development trip outside of London. 

Academic Staff Recruitment:

Teaching Within launched its newest cohort following the successes of TW1&2 in phase 4. Montana Williamson (SoN Phase 1 & TW1 Grad) joined the ‘core’ team to be the programme lead and curriculum developer. As part of Teaching Within we also continued to develop our prospectus to help stakeholders understand the complexities of the programme. We also developed a digital handbook to support the incoming cohort. Our Academic Team also expanded during this phase as we launched Safe Space Crits in October 2018, bringing in Samia Malik and Dr Kwame Baah (TW Grads) as Academic support lecturers. 

In May 2019, we also supported the launch of UAL’s Academic Development Fund (ADF) with a Shades of Noir Event at Camberwell College of Art. The Panel event entitled Academic Futures: Teaching At The University Of The Arts London drew over 180 prospective educators who were interested in teaching at UAL. One of our student team members wrote their own reflections on what this event meant to them: Academic Futures – Kerian Preddie. The ADF set to develop sixty new academic posts across UAL, with many of our Teaching Within Graduates being successful in getting these posts. 

Staff Development:

During this phase, we began delivering our newly developed consultancy programme of emancipatory workshops. We worked with a number of Archives, Creative Councils and Art schools around the UK to deliver workshops, policy reviews and recruitment support. This process also required the development of new pedagogic resources that built on previously published materials such as case studies and journals and that succinctly brought together theory and practice. During this phase, the workshops occurred in person at clients’ campuses and offices. 

Events & Publications: 

Phase 5 saw a scale-back of events to create more space and focus on the development of our Terms of Reference Publications – taking them from Zines into deeper, more expansive Journals. These Journals continue to have a global engagement and have strengthened Shades of Noir’s position as an academic resource. 

However, we were proud to support the book launch of ‘Inside the Ivory Tower: Narratives of women of colour surviving and thriving in British academia’. This book Edited by Dr Deborah Gabriel and Professor Shirley Anne Tate ‘centres on the perspectives, experiences and career trajectories of women of colour in British academia’ and brings together the voices of many long-standing friends of Shades of Noir, including that of Aisha Richards (Shades of Noir Director). 

Significantly within this Phase, we celebrated Ten Years of Shades of Noir, marking the occasion with a touring exhibition around UAL Libraries, beginning at Central St Martins. The exhibit was accompanied by a one-off publication that chronicled contributors, milestones and achievements over the first ten years. 

Throughout this Phase we were keynote guests at The Royal College of Art, talking as part of their series ‘Decolonising The Institution’ and hosted our own panel event centring the curatorial team of ‘Soul of a Nation’, a significant exhibition at the time and Aisha Richards delivered a keynote as part of Art in The Age of Black Girl Magic (2019), Tate Britain. 

Challenges Faced. 

  • An increase of activities, specifically an increase in external consultancy alongside existing commitments 
  • Continued Increase of student & staff support requests across UAL
  • The start of negotiations for Shades of Noir to join the university formally  
  • An increase of core staff members brought challenges regarding management and process design