New spoken-word LP examines legacy of Black immigration in Britain
Centuries-old anxieties around immigration and race relations are given a new perspective in Public Library UK Vol I, After Kenneth Little. Devised and produced by Dr Richard Hylton, this participatory spoken-word LP revisits the story of Black immigration in Britain through the voices of 37 volunteers from across the United Kingdom.
With the practice of anthropological field recordings in mind, SOAS's Dr Richard Hylton turns the listener's attention to voices and perspectives at home. In Public Library Vol 1, a series of volunteers read consecutive excerpts from American sociologist Leonard Bloom’s 1972 introduction to Kenneth Little’s Negroes in Britain, a study of the multiethnic populations of Butetown, Cardiff. Nicknamed Tiger Bay, Butetown was noted for its multiethnic population and for being the epicentre of notorious race riots in 1919.
Right on time, Richard Hylton makes an original and deeply nuanced contribution to the spoken word genre, doing so within a uniquely Black British context.
Negroes in Britain was first published in 1948, a year now fabled as the beginning of the “Windrush generation” and a turning point for race relations in the UK. Introducing the book over 25 years later, as Black Britain established itself and dealt with the fallout of the 1971 Windrush scandal, Bloom points to this work as evidence of the long and complex story of Black immigrants in this country.
“Right on time, Richard Hylton makes an original and deeply nuanced contribution to the spoken word genre, doing so within a uniquely Black British context... It was a French writer, Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr who wrote the enduring words, “plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.” He didn’t know the half of it. Listening to Public Library feels like being stuck in a time warp, signified by the perpetual framing of immigrants as having, as well as embodying, problems.” - Eddie Chambers, Professor of Art and Art History, University of Texas at Austin
Public Library UK Vol I, After Kenneth Little is a limited-edition work, produced as two 140g vinyl LPs. Presented in a gatefold design, extensive illustrations portray the changing sociological depictions of Black Britain throughout the 20th century. Liner notes by Eddie Chambers and Salomé Voegelin.
The album’s pressing was made possible through a Research Culture Award from SOAS. Its public launch will be held at the SOAS Gallery on 15 January, where Dr Richard Hylton will be joined by SOAS's Dr Althea Rivas, art critic Tom Denman and artist Paul Nataraj to discuss their responses to the project.
Image: Public Library UK Vol 1, After Kenneth Little, 2024 A limited edition spoken-word double vinyl LP about immigration and its legacies in Britain. 80 minutes. front cover: After Kenneth Little, Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1948, (2018) neon tubing, perspex, steel cables and transformers, 133cm x 99cm © Richard Hylton
