Museum of Liverpool puts Black music scene faces centre stage

A new digital photographic exhibition featuring faces from Liverpool’s Black music scene has opened at the Museum of Liverpool.

Champion One, Champion All! is part of the On Record, Untold & Retold Black music festival.

Each of the 33 portraits, taken by Liverpool photographer Anthony Wilde, were captured in a three-week period during the Coronavirus lockdown.

They picture key figures including artists, producers, promoters, managers, venue owners and people from the community who have all helped to shape the music scene.

The portraits feature, among others, Jennifer John, drill rapper Pelumi, Gary Christian, R ‘n’ B songwriters AMBA, radio presenter Ngunan Adamu and Go Off Sis Hub.

Anthony Wilde said: “I’m incredibly honoured and humbled first and foremost to have been asked to be part of this historic moment and quite frankly one of Liverpool's finest hours. We've been yearning for celebration; this is our creation. 

“This is what community can look like, visual satisfaction for me isn't limited by popularity and a thirst to be first. Each person belongs here to be seen; that is a lifelong honour I will not lose sight of.”

National Museums Liverpool head of creative partnerships Paul Gallagher added: “This is a body of work that simply did not exist before. Anthony has captured the many different strands and genres of Black music in the city in late 2020, much of it still under the radar.”

On Record, Untold & Retold celebrates Black music both past and present and highlights the role it has played and continues to play in the story of Liverpool as a City of Music.

Champion One, Champion All! can be seen on the big screen in the atrium of the Museum of Liverpool throughout December.

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Above: Ngunan Adamu. Photos by Anthony Wilde