Ajamu X
| Ajamu X | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1963 Huddersfield, UK |
| Nationality | British |
| Website | ajamu-fineartphotography |
Ajamu X (born Huddersfield, 1963) is a British artist, curator, archivist and activist. He best known for his fine art photography, which explores same-sex desire and the Black male body, and his work as an archivist and activist to document the lives and experiences of black LGBTQ people in the UK.
Ajamu was born in 1963 in Huddersfield to Jamaican parents. His grandparents arrived to England in 1958 and his parents followed in 1962.
Ajamu came out as gay to his parents in his late teens and describes their reaction as "impressively progressive for the times". He studied Black History and photography in Leeds. While in Leeds he and two friends, created the magazine BLAC, an acronym for Black Liberation Activist Core. In October 1987, after seeing it advertised in the newspaper Caribbean Times, Ajamu attended the first, and only, National Black Gay Men's Conference held at the Black Lesbian and Gay Centre in Camden. By January the following year, he had moved to London. He was given the name Ajamu in 1991; it means "he who fights for what he believes".
My name Ajamu X is a reference to Malcolm X who was my first key role model. Changing my name to an African one was very significant.
Ajamu's work often highlights stories of black LGBT individuals who he feels are often marginalized from mainstream British Society; additionally he has chosen to focus on those who are black and openly "out" and have been accepted by their families. Ajamu has said he rejects the claim that Jamaican culture is particularly homophobic and believes that homophobia exists across cultures and families of all backgrounds.
He often speaks of his work as a "sex activist"; he has run "sex parties for men who want to have sex with men" since the 1990s, and same-sex desire and pleasure are recurring themes in his photography. His first major exhibition Black Bodyscapes, in 1994, focused on the private sexual realities of black gay men. More recent projects include Fierce: Portraits of Young Black Queers. an exhibition of 24 portraits of a "…new generation of Black and proudly out young, emerging and established talent" at London's Guildhall Art Gallery in 2014 and I Am For You Can Enjoy with Khalil West, at Contact Theatre, Manchester, in 2016, which uses photography and video, to explore the lives of queer Black male sex workers and their clients. Ajamu has described himself as an "artist who has created an rchive" and, in addition to his art practice, continues to document black LGBT experiences.
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