Press Releases

Today (5 March) Amgueddfa Cymru has announced an exciting series of online events, Lates: PITCH BLACK in partnership with Artes Mundi. The events will include a mixture of live and pre-recorded content and will be held each Thursday night throughout May.

Lates: PITCH BLACK aims to celebrate the artistic contribution of Black artists and Black identity, with four new artworks being commissioned especially for the events. These multi-artform commissions will interrogate the impact that the British Empire and culture has had on Black people and their history whilst exploring new ways to dream collectively.

Each Thursday night will focus on the bold new work of a particular artist. These include June Campbell-Davies (May 6 2021), Gabin Kongolo (May 13), Omikemi (May 20) and Yvonne Connikie (May 27).

• June Campbell-Davies, who is based in Cardiff, will perform ‘Sometimes we’re Invisible’ which will explore colonialism through dance and movement to reveal the weight of ancestral connections.
• Gabin Kongolo, from Cardiff, will present ‘NDAKO (Home)’, a cine poem based on testimonies by Gabin’s family that reveals the poetic nature and experience of coming to Wales from Congo as refugees.
• London-based Omikemi’s work, titled ‘Dreaming Bodies’, is described as an audio artwork examining the crossroads of LGBTQIA+, disability and Black identities.
• Yvonne Connikie will present ‘A Time for New Dreams’, a film including new and archival material to reflect on the ambitions of the Windrush generation in Wales and how the Windrush Scandal has resulted in their dreams becoming waking nightmares.

Umulkhayr Mohamed, Lead curator of Lates: PITCH BLACK says:

“We’re really excited to be bringing this series of art events to our digital audience. It’s important that we celebrate the contribution of Black artists and engage in a conversation about the long-term effects Black people feel as a result of the dual spectres of colonialism and the British Empire. Alongside the wonderful commissioned art, Lates: PITCH BLACK will  present new dance and musical performances, film screenings, DJ sets, exclusive Black History tours of the Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum of Wales collections, and extras from the Artes Mundi 9 exhibition.”

Lates: PITCH BLACK has been curated for an online audience to enjoy from home. The event complements the Artes Mundi exhibition at National Museum Cardiff, which will launch a digital exhibition on 15 March 2021. Artes Mundi’s exhibition will open to the public when Welsh Government guidelines allows for the museum to reopen safely.

It is the latest event to be held under Amgueddfa Cymru’s Lates brand for young people. Other successful Lates events held at National Museum Cardiff include Lates: Space in 2019, to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of the lunar landing and Lates: Dino in 2020 to celebrate Dippy on Tour during the Natural History’s famous diplodocus’ appearance at the museum.

Tickets for Lates: PITCH BLACK will be released on Eventbrite at 10.00 on Monday morning, 8 March 2021 and prices range from £6 for a ticket to one event and £15 for a bundle ticket for online access to all events. Bundle tickets will be available to purchase at a decreased rate of 15% after each event.

For more information, please visit: https://museum.wales/whatson/digital/11289/Lates-PITCH-BLACK/