London, United Kingdom
The forerunner of the Commonwealth Institute was known as the Imperial Institute. A measure of its significance, as a venue for the work of artist from countries of the British Empire, or former countries of the British Empre, such as India, can be gleaned from a sentence in a personal recollection by Avinash Chandra. In his text of 1968, Avinash Chandra: Some personal notes (Studio International journal of modern art, October 1968), Chandra wrote (of London, a decade or so earlier), “…Then, like most Indian and other ‘colonial’ painters, I had my first London show at the Commonwealth Institute (then the Imperial Institute) and, once again, enjoyed some success.”
There were two gallery spaces at the Commonwealth Institute, located at Kensington High Street. The main space opened with an inaugural exhibition, Commonwealth Art Today, on 7 November 1962. A second space, known as the Bhownagree Gallery, occupying a passageway/corridor, also existed within this central London complex, which existed to promote the arts, culture, and other aspects of the countries of the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth Institute hosted a considerable number of important exhibitions, over a period of nearly four decades. These exhibitions included solo shows, group shows, by artists from, or with significant links to, the countries of the Commonwealth. The inaugural exhibition, Commonwealth Art Today, provided an invaluable series of snapshots of contemporary art practice, as it existed across extensive parts of the world. Guyana (then known as British Guiana) was represented by Frank Bowling and Aubrey Williams.
A piece titled Exhibitions at the Commonwealth Institute appeared in the Winter 1973 issue of African Arts magazine (Volume VI, Number 2). The piece was written by South African-born artist Denis Bowen. The text opened, “During the course of any twelve months or so the program of exhibitions organized by the Commonwealth Art Gallery in London invariably provides some opporunities to study the work of contemporary African artists. The 1972 program included exhibitions of paintings by Yusuf Grillo of Nigeria and of wood carvings by Mwariko Omari of Tanzania.” This was in effect a review of these two artists’ work.
Catalogue relating to an exhibition, 1963
Catalogue relating to an exhibition, 1970
Catalogue relating to an exhibition, 1986
Review relating to an exhibition, 1986
Catalogue relating to an exhibition, 1975
Group show at Commonwealth Institute. 1963
Group show at Commonwealth Institute. 1970
Group show at Commonwealth Institute. 1977
Group show at Wolverhampton Art Gallery, Commonwealth Institute. 1986
Group show at Commonwealth Institute. 1975
Born, 1919 in Tacarigua, Trinidad. Died, 1980
Born, 1908 in Ghana. Died, 1998
Born, 1942 in St. Elizabeth, Jamaica. Died, 2018
Born, 1914 in Mauritius. Died, 2009
Born, 1953 in Hanover, Jamaica
Born, 1923 in Eccleshall, England. Died, 1975
Born, 1906 in Westport, New Zealand
Born, 1921 in Kimberley, South Africa. Died, 2006
Born, 1946 in St Andrew, Jamaica
Born, 1954 in Kingston, Jamaica
Born, 1917 in St. Ann, Jamaica. Died, 2002
Born, 1935 in Trelawney, Jamaica
Born, 1925 in Gold Coast (Ghana). Died, 1975
Born, 1927 in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Died, 1996
Born, 1927 in Columbo, Ceylon (Sri Lanka)
Born, 1931 in Simla, India. Died, 1991
Born, 1911 in London
Born, 1909 in Ceylon (Sri Lanka)
Born, 1920 in Toronto, Canada
Born, 1929. Died, 1981
Born, 1919 in Valletta, Malta. Died, 1987
Born, 1935 in Port Chalmers, New Zealand
Born, 1930 in Point Hill, St. Catherine, Jamaica. Died, 2006
Born, 1930 in Wellington, New Zealand
Born, 1886 - 1896 (probably 1891) in Savanna-la-Mar, Westmoreland, Jamaica. Died, 1947
Born, 1917 - 1925 (probably 1921) in Onitsha, Nigeria. Died, 1994
Born, 1922 - 1928 (probably 1925) in Illa-Orangun, Nigeria. Died, 2009
Born, 1927 - 1929 (probably 1928) in Canada. Died, 2009
Born, 1956 in Grenada
Born, 1915 in Scotland. Died, 1997
Born, 1943 in Jamaica
Born, 1945 in Grenada
Born, 1930 in Gayle, Jamaica
Born, 1919 in New Lambton, New South Wales, Australia. Died, 1980
Born, 1915 in Sholapur, India. Died, 2011
Born, 1906 in Clyde, Otago, New Zealand. Died, 1978
Born, 1919 in St. Mary, Jamaica. Died, 2000
Born, 1901 in Kandy, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). Died, 1993
Born, 1939 in Calcutta, India
Born, 1938 - 1942 (probably 1940) in Punjab, India
Born, 1940 in Singapore
Born, 1918 in Cornwall
Born, 1921 in Africa
Born, 1919 in Canton, China. Died, 1975
Born, 1900 in Yorkshire, England. Died, 1987
Born, 1902 - 1906 (probably 1904) in St. Andrew, Jamaica. Died, 1992
Born in Jamaica, date unknown
Born, 1919 in Timaru, New Zealand. Died, 1987
Born, 1895 in St. Thomas, Jamaica
Born, 1903 in Kingston, Jamaica. Died, 1977
Born, 1872 in Kingston, Jamaica. Died, 1969
Born, 1900 in Kingston, Jamaica. Died, 1984
Born, 1898 in Castleford, Yorkshire. Died, 1986
Born, 1923 in Australia
Born, 1950 in Jamaica
Born, 1907 in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Born, 1917 in Melbourne, Australia. Died, 1992
Born, 1923 in Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. Died, 1993
Born, 1933 in Cyprus
Born, 1919 in Akron, Ohio
Born, 1926 in Rawalpindi, (now Pakistan, then India). Died, 1979
Born, 1908 in Surrey, England. Died, 1998
Born, 1946 in Jamaica
Born, 1944 in St. Thomas, Jamaica
Born, 1927 - 1937 (probably 1932) in Jamaica. Died, 2008
Born, 1937 in Portland, Jamaica
Born, 1911 in St. Catherine, Jamaica. Died, 1989
Born, 1955 - 1961 (probably 1958) in Jamaica
Born, 1923 in Montreal, Canada. Died, 2002
Born, 1908 in London. Died, 1993
Born in Calcutta, India, date unknown
Born, 1923 in Australia
Born, 1933 in India
Born, 1909 in Shoeburyness, England. Died, 1998
Born, 1938 in Punjab, India
Born, 1924 in Goa, India. Died, 2002
Born, 1944 in Jamaica
Born, 1918 - 1930 (probably 1924) in Trout Hall, Clarendon, Jamaica. Died, 2012
Born, 1912 - 1916 (probably 1914) in China. Died, 2008
Born, 1931
Born, 1934 in Kingston, Jamaica. Died, 2005
Born, 1926 in Georgetown, Guyana. Died, 1990
Born, 1911 in St. James, Jamaica
Born in St. Mary, Jamaica, date unknown
Born, 1910 in Taranaki, New Zealand. Died, 1998
Born, 1922 in Wales. Died, 2006
Born, 1916 in London. Died, 1975
Born, 1930 in St. Andrew, Jamaica