User:Emmanema/Maud Sulter

Maud Sulter (19 September 1960 – 27 February 2008) was a Scottish contemporary fine artist, photographer, writer, educator, and curator of Ghanaian heritage. She first worked as a writer and poet, later turning the visual arts. Sulter was known for her collaborations with other Black feminist scholars and activists, capturing the lives of Black peoples in Europe. She was a champion of the forgotten African-American sculptor Edmonia Lewis.

Early life and education
Maud Sulter was born on 9 September 1960 in Glasgow, Scotland, to a Scots mother and a Ghanaian father. Maud Sulter attained a Master's degree in Photographic Studies from the University of Derby. Her maternal grandfather had been an amateur photographer.

Black Women's Creative Project
Sulter worked with Sheba Feminist Publisher's Collective, starting in 1982. As the collective's only Black woman writer at the time, Sulter recognized an increasing need for writing tailored to Black women and co-founded the Black Women's Creative Project with Ingrid Pollard. The magazine created a variety of content ranging from "hair braiding, poetry and performance".

Art, photography, poetry
The Thin Blackline (1985) exhibition, created by Lubaina Himid, marked the beginning of Sulter's art career. The exhibition displayed the art of highly esteemed Black and Asian women artists, re-centring the visibility of Black and Asian art in the British art scene. Sulter worked closely with Lubaina Himid, including on the book Passion: Discourses on Blackwomen’s Creativity, published by Urban Fox Press in 1990.

Sulter's photographic practice included contemporary portraiture and montage. Her work typically referenced historical and mythical subjects. Her photography was exhibited in across the UK and internationally, including at the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1987; the Johannesburg Biennial (1996); and the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in 2003. She received a number of awards and residencies, including the British Telecom New Contemporaries Award 1990 and the Momart Fellowship at Tate Liverpool, also in 1990.

As well as writing about art history and curating many exhibitions, Sulter was also a poet and playwright, whose works include the collections As a Blackwoman (1985; her poem of the same title won the Vera Bell Prize from ACER, the Afro-Caribbean Education Resource, the previous year); Zabat (1989); and Sekhmet (2005). She wrote a play inspired by the background of former Ghana head of state Jerry Rawlings, entitled Service to Empire (2002).

She was a Lecturer of Fine Art at Manchester Metropolitan University.

Death and legacy
Sulter died in 2008, aged 47, after a long illness. She was survived by two daughters and a son.

Her work created coalitions between Black feminist and lesbian groups. Through collaborations with Black women artists, writers and photographers across the world, Sulter successfully brought awareness to the histories and continued presence of Black women figures. Sulter is contemporarily recognized as a significant contributor to the History of feminism.

Sulter's work is held in a number of collections, including the Birmingham City Museum and Art Gallery, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Arts Council Collection, the British Council, the Scottish Arts Council and the Scottish Parliament Collection.

In 2011–2012, her work was shown at Tate Britain, London, in the exhibition Thin Black Line(s), which was a re-staging of the seminal 1986 exhibition, The Thin Black Line at the ICA.

In 2017, her Muses (Calliope: the muse of epic poetry, and Terpsichore: the muse of dance), two portraits were put on show in the Walker Gallery as part of the largest LGBTQ+ art exhibition in the UK, Coming Out: Sexuality, Gender, and Identity.

Books by Sulter

 * Sulter, Maud (2009) Call and Response. Vol. 44. Association for Art History. ISSN: 0141-6790
 * Sulter, Maud (2009) Call and Response. Vol. 44. Association for Art History. ISSN: 0141-6790
 * Sulter, Maud (2009) Call and Response. Vol. 44. Association for Art History. ISSN: 0141-6790
 * Sulter, Maud (2009) Call and Response. Vol. 44. Association for Art History. ISSN: 0141-6790
 * Sulter, Maud (2009) Call and Response. Vol. 44. Association for Art History. ISSN: 0141-6790
 * Sulter, Maud (2009) Call and Response. Vol. 44. Association for Art History. ISSN: 0141-6790
 * Sulter, Maud (2009) Call and Response. Vol. 44. Association for Art History. ISSN: 0141-6790

Books about Sulter

 * In the section by Deborah Cherry, "The Ghost Begins by Coming Back: Revenants and Returns in Maud Sulter's Photomontages"
 * In the section by Deborah Cherry, "The Ghost Begins by Coming Back: Revenants and Returns in Maud Sulter's Photomontages"
 * In the section by Deborah Cherry, "The Ghost Begins by Coming Back: Revenants and Returns in Maud Sulter's Photomontages"