Keskidee Centre

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The Keskidee Centre, or Keskidee Arts Centre, was Britain's first arts centre for the black community.[1] Located at Gifford Street in Islington, near King's Cross in London, it was a project initiated in the early 1970s by Guyanese architect and cultural activist Oscar Abrams (who died on 15 February 1996 aged 58)[1] to provide under one roof self-help and cultural activities for the local West Indian community. The centre became a hub for African and Afro-Caribbean politics and arts, and developed its own vibrant drama company that attracted both a black and white audience.[2]

History

In 1971 Abrams bought a run-down Victorian mission and transformed it into the Keskidee Centre,[3] which came to provide "a unique and hugely influential cultural and political environment for the black community throughout the 1970s and early-1980s."[1] The community centre's name and logo derived from a bird native to Guyana.[3]

In 1971 the Keskidee Theatre workshop was founded with a full-time drama company dedicated to black theatre, attracting directors, playwrights and actors including Rufus Collins, Howard Johnson, Lennox Brown, Derek Walcott, Edgar White, Yvonne Brewster, Anton Phillips, T-Bone Wilson, Pat Maddy, Yemi Ajibade, Lindsay Barrett. The venue was also used for events by the Caribbean Artists Movement.[1] Nigerian artist and sculptor Emmanuel Jegede was artist-in-residence, and Linton Kwesi Johnson was the Keskidee's first paid library resources and education officer. Johnson developed dub poetry at the Centre, with a staged version of his poem "Voices of the Living and the Dead" being produced by Lindsay Barrett there, with music by the reggae group Rasta Love.[1]

Up-and-coming bands such as Misty in Roots and Steel Pulse also played at Keskidee, and in 1978 Bob Marley used the centre to make a video for his song "Is This Love?"[1]

The Keskidee ran into financial difficulties in the 1980s, and closed in 1991. The building was subsequently taken over by the Christ Apostolic Church.[2]

In 2009, The Keskidee was the subject of a BBC Radio 4 programme based on oral history interviews conducted by Alan Dein as part of the King’s Cross Voices project.[4][5]

On 7 April 2011, an Islington Council heritage green plaque was unveiled by David Lammy at the building, at the time a church.[6][7][8]

On the night of 8 March 2012, the building was ravaged by fire.[2] Although the police treated the blaze as suspicious, they were unable to solve the mystery of who had started it, and a Scotland Yard spokesman said: “We have now exhausted all lines of inquiry. Realistically, the investigation is closed.”[9]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 "The Keskidee - a community that discovered itself. Islington Local History Centre celebrates the Keskidee - Britain’s first arts centre for the black community", Islington Local History Centre, 2009.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Pavan Amara and Andrew Johnson, "Fire rips through pioneering black arts venue where Bob Marley shot Is This Love video", Islington Tribune, 9 March 2012.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Keskidee Arts Centre" at Black Plays Archive, National Theatre.
  4. ↑ "The Keskidee centre on radio 4", Archives and Identities - UCL AHRC Community Archives project 2008-0=9.
  5. ↑ The Keskidee, BBC Radio 4.
  6. ↑ Peter Gruner, "Green plaque honours Keskidee arts centre where Naomi Campbell met Bob Marley", Camden New Journal, 25 March 2011.
  7. ↑ Rob Bleaney, "Plaque for Islington arts centre which starred in Bob Marley video", Islington Gazette, 29 March 2011.
  8. ↑ Amara, "Cherished King's Cross black arts Keskidee Centre is latest to get a heritage green plaque", Islington Tribune, 8 April 2011.
  9. ↑ "Investigation into fire at historic Keskidee black arts centre is closed, say police", Islington Tribune, 27 April 2012.

External links

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