Welsh, Gifted and Black.

WGB

September 30th marked a date where Black creatives across Cardiff and further were brought together to celebrate the Black Joy exhibition, in partnership with People’s Collection, Glamorgan Archives and Made in Roath. Welsh, Gifted and Black is a youth organisation run by 4 creatives; Te Fenty, Ophelia Dos Santos, Tara and Juliana. Te had the role of designer in the exhibition. 

I asked Te Fenty, what’s it like being a young mixed race woman and running an organisation like Welsh Gifted and Black? 

“For me personally, it’s been so empowering to stand as a mixed race woman and do something positive for the Black side of my culture. It’s taught me so much about the strength that stands in Wales and how our history runs deep in all parts of the UK. To know you are being part of the solution not the problem. It’s honestly made me feel more connected with being Welsh”.

Te & Onismo (Image by Zxidy)

What inspired you to hold the Black Joy exhibition?

She said, “my friend gave me a book called Black Joy, it captured moments of happiness in the Black community. It reminded me that we don’t celebrate our happiness as much as we celebrate our trauma. I wanted it to be something that would inspire us to create more art, to sing more music, to feel like our goals have always been achievable”.

The whole exhibition was very uplifting, but I asked Te, what she thought was the favourite part of the exhibition? Te, explained, “it was so heart-warming to see how many young Black creatives applied and how overly talented they are”

Cara Walker Image by: Tia-Zakura Camilleri

One of these featured young creatives was Cara Walker, 19. This was Cara’s first time being featured in an exhibition and it was a ‘great opportunity to use her [my] practice to contribute to a topic she’s [I’m] passionate about’. The Black Joy exhibition was ‘refreshing’ as the message was ‘about pro-blackness rather than the common thread of a struggle or trauma’, Cara tells us. “I feel like a lot of us are still healing from the re-emergence of the BLM movement in 2020, so now is the right time to celebrate what we’ve achieved, and this exhibition was just one way in doing so”. ‘As a young creative’, Cara saw ‘personal development’ from the event; ‘seeing how people authentically respond and react to my work’ were her main takeaways. Both Cara and Te ‘hope for more events like this in the future’ pioneering the Black voice and, most importantly, rejoicing in its greatness.