Art for Guernsey presents The African Guernsey Community Project, an exhibition that celebrates the vibrant African community on the island of Guernsey. Local photographer Aaron Yeandle has embarked on an exciting project to capture portraits of members of Guernsey’s African community.
The Art for Guernsey team will collaborate with him to showcase Aaron’s contemporary photography, highlighting diversity on the island. Despite recent settlement, the African community and its culture significantly contribute to Guernsey’s society.
Aaron Yeandle, an international award-winning fine art documentary photographer, has been photographing Guernsey’s communities for 10 years. The African Guernsey Photographic Project aims to positively reflect our ever-changing communities. It serves as a social heritage project that will create a photographic archival record of this moment in our history. Aaron’s intimate portraits feature people who live and work in Guernsey, many taken in their homes, showing their private environments.
David Ummels, founder of Art for Guernsey, stated, “At Art for Guernsey, we frequently integrate art into projects that promote broader societal, educational, or community values. Throughout its rich history, the island has consistently welcomed newcomers, fostering an open and inclusive society. We are thrilled to host an exhibition celebrating the increased diversity brought by Guernsey’s recently settled African community, offering them a warm welcome. This show provides an ideal platform for Guernsey and the African community to connect. In addition to showcasing Aaron’s intimate portraits, we will unveil an artwork by Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, acclaimed as the ‘new Lucien Freud’ in the UK, to engage in dialogue with Aaron’s body of work and honour the African community.”
Aaron Yeandle expressed that photography has the power to unite and harmonize our social fabric. His latest project, documenting Guernsey’s social history and heritage, holds personal and cultural significance for both Guernsey and African communities. The project aims to raise awareness of Guernsey’s vibrant African community and celebrate their rich cultures. Aaron invites Africans in Guernsey to participate in this historic project, hoping they and their families will join in.
