A New Exhibition Opens, Celebrating London’s Black Music Scene

The exhibition will explore the capital’s relationship with black music, its history, and the spaces they are hosted in.

One of the things the exhibition focuses on is ‘Form 696’ – the licensing policy used to shut down events where grime music was played. In the exhibition, artists Naeem Dxvis and SignKid look at the genres which drew influence from Form 696 and how those genres spread across the private party spaces all across South London.

This exhibition takes place at the Horniman Museum on London Road in South East London, curated by Adem Holness & it runs until 24th October. It pays homage to figures from across grime, garage, bashment, and jazz amongst others, revisiting decades gone by. 

‘Dance Can’t Nice: Exploring London’s Black Music Spaces’ is the name of the exhibition, inspired by the 1988 track by Frankie Paul and Sugar Minott.

Curator Holness, when asked about the exhibition, said:

“I’m hoping it prompts conversation and discussion about where Black British music belongs in some ways it’s about acknowledging the way in which Black music has been pushed out of public space, but it’s also about honouring where it has managed to thrive. By working with Naeem to reimagine sacred Black music and cultural spaces, I want to pull back the curtain on music genres we all love.”

Book your tickets to the exhibition here.