The Bristol artist behind the iconic Seven Saints of St Pauls murals says Black Lives Matter (BLM) has been a “wake up call” for white people but these are issues which she has been talking about for her entire life.
Michele Curtis says her experiences in every job she’s ever had have been far from easy, as well as her treatment by the health care system.
When she was at school, she says she was told by her teachers - in a roundabout way - that she didn’t belong in Bristol. She wasn’t British, she was Jamaican and if she went back there, there would be people who looked just like her.
Now, she says she feels “compelled” to make her work representative and inclusive in St Pauls and beyond.
Ms Curtis said: “I was told ‘You’re a child of the diaspora and you belong in Jamaica’.
“At school I was taught that I didn't belong here and I was an immigrant. But, then when I went to Jamaica, I was seen as a westerner. It was something I struggled with a lot growing up, because where did I belong?
“I would go out of my way to educate my history teacher and I told them that my granddad fought in the First and Second World Wars. I wanted to show that this was our history and it’s not just about Black people. So, this is what I need white people to understand.”
When the death of George Floyd shook the world, BLM protests were held in towns and cities across the globe and Ms Curtis says it was “traumatic” to watch white people wake up to racism in real time.
“Let’s not try and sugarcoat everything and let’s make it clear there is a purpose behind BLM. It's not just a movement, but it’s a lifestyle. It's gonna take time to change things.
“It takes 21 days to break a habit and if racism is ingrained into 400 years of history, then it’s going to take a lot longer to diminish any form of racism. But, this is the work of white people.
“The work I believe that needs to be done in the Black community is aiding us to deal with trauma and the effects of contemporary Britain. So, that’s why I make art because I want our stories to be told.”
She believes residents need to be made aware that “Bristol is not as integrated as people think it is”.
Ms Curtis recalls battles she faced when she launched her first exhibition, as well as the feeling of being one of the only Black faces in creative white institutions.
She said: “I went through hell and back with so many jobs and I was always told what Black people needed. They would say ‘Black people need this and they need that’. There was this narrative being spun about people in our communities which again goes back to lack of representation.
“When I first started my creative projects people were telling me that no one would care. But, then my entire perception changed and I knew I had work to do.
“People needed to know that it was about the fact that we were Black and we belonged in this country beyond the transatlantic slave trade.”
After her first exhibition there were talks of St Pauls Carnival being at risk and this became the catalyst for Ms Curtis’ Seven Saints murals.
“People were saying that St Pauls Carnival was just a street party. For them, maybe it was the one time of year they would come to St Pauls to eat some jerk chicken and drink ginger beer.
“But, for those of us who lived in St Pauls, it was way more than that. It was the one day us Black people could get together, be back and bask in our culture without the police harassing us. Just one day.
“During that moment, I knew I had to uplift the community and educate Bristol on why St Pauls Carnival first came about and the history behind it.
“So I began doing research for my project and realised the way I felt uplifted was through art. I thought I should use my talent to share people’s experiences and follow their dreams.
“When I spoke to one of the saints - Roy Hackett - he said when he began his activism people thought they were fighting for civil rights but they were fighting for their human rights. That stuck with me. We want to be treated as human beings.”
Ms Curtis says she wanted to tell the narrative of Black people in the best way possible through her art - but this wasn't easy.
She said: “I know I belong here and I know I can deliver in any space. But, we’ve been told that we have to work 10 times harder our whole lives. We know there are times when people are looking at us thinking ‘Why are you here?’ because they’re not used to hearing us speak up.
“People would say ‘You speak so well’ and it goes back to racial ideologies that they don't realise that they hold. It's about the way you are made to feel when you go into certain spaces. It's white gaze and how that makes us feel.
“People who are non Black will not understand. But,they need to start having uncomfortable conversations about how they can make their businesses more inclusive.”
Recently Ms Curtis has continued her work championing for diversity by launching a new augmented reality experience of the murals and she also plans to launch a virtual reality version in September 2021.
