This event will see art historian, David McAlmont, acclaimed portrait photographer, Robert Taylor, and filmmaker, Mark Thomas, in conversation around their collaborative project Permissible Beauty.
This is the first UK public screening of Permissible Beauty, a film that examines how beauty has been defined, hailed and perceived in the past and how this is reflected in – and shaped by – our nation’s heritage. Responding to the absence of Black Queer visibility in our national story, the film explores why some forms of beauty are more permissible, more highly valued than others and – through new portraits of six Black Queer Britons – offers up a new chapter of British beauty for the 21st century.
This event will be introduced by researcher and project producer, Richard Sandell and include a screening of Permissible Beauty.
This event is part of Queer and Now, a festival dedicated to the powerful role of LGBTQIA+ art and culture in the UK.
Permissible Beauty is led by the Research Centre for Museums and Galleries, University of Leicester, in partnership with Historic Royal Palaces, English Heritage and National Trust. It is generously supported by Arts Council England through a National Lottery Project Grant.
Organised in partnership with the Research Centre for Museums and Galleries (RCMG), University of Leicester.
David McAlmont
David McAlmont has been a member of the Architectural Association since 2010 where he teaches Spatial Design & Performance at the Interprofessional Studio and the History of Art and Architecture as part of the History and Technical Studies programme. As a songwriter and performer has collaborated with Bernard Butler, Shirley Bassey, Michael Nyman, David Arnold, Craig Armstrong, Courtney Pine and others. After studying the History of Western art and Architecture at Birkbeck College, he has actively sought to marry his performative background to his art historical interests with particular focus on creating Black LGBT+ portraitures. Projects have included Girl Boy Child, a collaboration with the Research Centre for Museums and Galleries and National Trust and Portrait of a Black Queer Briton at the National Portrait Gallery. His latest album, a fresh collaboration with Hifi Sean was released to wide acclaim in February 2023.
Robert Taylor
Robert Taylor has published and exhibited widely over the last 35 years with work held in the V&A and National Portrait Gallery. Robert’s early work included many contributions to LGBTQ+ human rights campaigns, and HIV prevention projects. His current practice is divided between collections of portraits of women in academe and STEM commissioned by academic and scientific institutions, including the Royal Society and various Oxford University colleges, while his more personal art-based projects centre around identity, beauty and desire.
Mark Thomas
Since founding Soup Collective in 1999, Mark Thomas has developed his role as both an independent Film-maker, directing promos and documentaries for acts such as Elbow, Doves and Editors alongside producing and directing large-scale AV projects, video design and installation work for clients ranging from artists Suzanne Lacy and Ari Benjamin Meyers to the Almeida, Imperial War Museum North and the BFI. His work has been screened at the NFT, IDFA (International Documentary Festival Amsterdam), Liverpool Biennial and SF MOMA. Recent work includes Flying Dream 1, a broadcast documentary aired on Sky Arts detailing the making of Elbow's recent album, recorded during the pandemic.
Richard Sandell
Richard Sandell is Professor in the School of Museum Studies and Co-Director of the Research Centre for Museums and Galleries at the University of Leicester. Recent collaborative projects include Permissible Beauty, Being Human (Wellcome Collection), Prejudice and Pride and Everywhere and Nowhere (National Trust). His most recent books include - Museums, Moralities and Human Rights (2017) and Museum Activism (with Robert R. Janes) (2019), winner of the Canadian Museums Association’s award for Outstanding Achievement for Research in the Cultural Heritage Sector.
Tate Britain's step-free entrance is on Atterbury Street. It has automatic sliding doors and there is a ramp down to the entrance with central handrails.
There is a lift between the Lower and Main floors. Alternatively you can take the stairs.
- Accessible and standard toilets are located on the Lower floor.
- A Changing Places toilet is not currently available.
- Ear defenders can be borrowed from the ticket desk on the Lower floor.
- A quiet space is available.
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