Ep.67: Exploring Tate Britain’s 80s Exhibition Through a Black Queer Lens w/ Campaigner Marc Thompson

Stance Podcast with Chrystal Genesis

Stance visits London to explore the Tate Gallery show The 80s: Photographing Britain with campaigner Marc Thompson. The exhibition examines how photographers used the camera to respond to the seismic social, political, and economic shifts of the era, including the rise of Thatcherism, race uprisings, and the AIDS epidemic. It highlights photography as a vital tool for social representation, cultural celebration, and artistic experimentation, spanning landscapes, self-portraiture, and social documentary during this pivotal and highly creative period. Marc Thompson, a Brixton-born cultural leader and prominent British campaigner with over three decades of experience in HIV activism and education, joins Chrystal for a tour of Tate Britain. Together, they engage with the works of photographers such as Ajamu X and Rotimi Fani-Kayode, discussing the legacy of Black queer voices in shaping modern Britain, the cultural significance of Brixton as a hub for activism, creativity and nightclubs, and the ongoing fight for healthcare equity faced by marginalized communities today.

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This podcast was produced by Etay Zwick.

Referenced In This Podcast & Show Notes

Mark Thompson Linktree

Marc Thompson IG

London HIV Prevention Resident Survey Black & Gay Back InBlack & Gay Back In The Day IGThe Day

Black & Gay Back In The Day Podcast

Lost Spaces Podcast - Queer Nation (with Marc Thompson)

PrEPster

Love Tank

Black Health Matters

Do It London - HIV Prevention

Interview with Marc Thompson in London Friend

Article about Marc Thompson in The Voice

We Were Always Here Podcast hosted by Marc Thompson

Tate Britian

The 80s: Photographing Britain at the Tate

Artists include:

Online Gallery of Rotimi Fani-Kayode's Photography

Black British Artists 1980s Archive

Pogus Caesar

Martin Parr's

Ajamu X's website

Dave Lewis's website

Susanne Roden

Anna Fox's website

Derek Bishton's website

Jason Evans website

Reflections of the Black Experience: Brixton Art Gallery, 1986. PV Card, Poster, Catalogue, Time Out, Echoes & LAM Reviews

A Review of an exhibition of Rotimi Fani-Kayode's work