exhibition at the prestigious tate britain museum of the work of the british caribbean artist and film maker sir isaacjulien. it is a sweeping showcase of his four decade career. his subject matter explores some of the most divisive issues of our age migration, racism and sexuality. as a prominent gay, black man, how far does isaacjulien use his art to advance such causes? sir isaacjulien, welcome to hardtalk. thank you, zeinab. how would you describe your artistic work? because it embodies a whole range of visual arts photographs, drawings, art installations, experimental videos and documentaries. it sounds pretty eclectic. well, i guess you could say i m someone who started making films, and i was very drawn to film making at an early age but then i went to art school. and going to art school, you re exposed to so many different sort of forms. i became so excited, really, as an art student, that i wanted to encapsulate all those forms. so, in a way, film, moving image
exhibition at the prestigious tate britain museum of the work of the british caribbean artist and film maker sir isaacjulien. it is a sweeping showcase of his four decade career. his subject matter explores some of the most divisive issues of our age migration, racism and sexuality. as a prominent gay, black man, how far does isaacjulien use his art to advance such causes? sir isaacjulien, welcome to hardtalk. thank you, zeinab. how would you describe your artistic work? because it embodies a whole range of visual arts photographs, drawings, art installations, experimental videos and documentaries. it sounds pretty eclectic. well, i guess you could say i m someone who started making films, and i was very drawn to film making at an early age but then i went to art school. and going to art school, you re exposed to so many different sort of forms. i became so excited, really, as an art student, that i wanted to encapsulate all those forms. so, in a way, film, moving image
it is a sweeping showcase of his four decade career. his subject matter explores some of the most divisive issues of our age migration, racism and sexuality. as a prominent gay, black man, how far does isaacjulien use his art to advance such causes? sir isaacjulien, welcome to hardtalk. thank you, zeinab. how would you describe your artistic work? because it embodies a whole range of visual arts photographs, drawings, art installations, experimental videos and documentaries. it sounds pretty eclectic. well, i guess you could say i m someone who started making films, and i was very drawn to film making at an early age but then i went to art school. and going to art school, you re exposed to so many different sort of forms. i became so excited, really, as an art student, that i wanted to encapsulate all those forms. so, in a way, film, moving image, photography, sculpture all of those things are part of what i make. and so, i guess, installation films, orfilm installati
well, ithink, you know, that when one s growing up, getting to understand that is, of course, complicated, and making a sense of your identity becomes part, really, of an articulation for surviving. but i think one of the things which is really very important is really, then, how you begin to create a sort of, in a way, self image or reflection of oneself, which can, in a way, endure. and, in a way, i think making a film like looking for langston was very much about making a film that would somehow both give voice but also give back an image and a beauty to oneself, but also, you know, just to create a certain community that would be able to rally around it in a particular manner. but, i mean, should you not raise your voice more loudly? you said, you know, look, i m an activist as well as an artist. and i say to you, 11 caribbean states including your parents .
a lot of your work looks at black males and celebrates their form, really, because you are not only a prominent artist, but also a prominent voice in the gay community. and in your 1989 film montage, called looking for langston, which focused on langston hughes, who was the closeted gay black poet, one of the leaders of the harlem renaissance. that celebration of black gay sexuality has become something with which you are associated. and you say until you made that film, a black gay voice did not really exist. do you see yourself as not only a black artist, but also a black gay artist, and that you feel you need to raise your voice in that cause? well, i think at the time when i was making the work that it was really very important to be able to make a work that would somehow give a form to these experiences.