About us

Promoting Dialogue And Scholarship On African Diaspora Cultures

homeThe Institute for Black Atlantic Research (IBAR) is a research institute utilising UCLAN’s interdisciplinary and internationally renowned research pedigree in African Atlantic studies particularly in the Schools of Humanities and the Social Sciences and Art, Design and Performance (ADP). IBAR fosters partnerships with museums, galleries, broadcasters and community organisations to promote the study of the Black Atlantic in the North West and beyond Partner organisations include the International Slavery Museum, Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester Art Gallery, Tate Galleries, Front Room Theatre Company, Lancashire Museums, Lancaster Jazz Festival and Preston Black History Group. Its emphasis on art and culture makes it distinctive in comparison to other centres in the field locally, nationally and internationally which are typically devoted to historical and/or social science concerns.

Since 2015, IBAR has been the recipient of three Euro EU Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship Grant: the recipients are  Raphael Hoermann, Izabella Penier and Astrid Haas. The institute currently also hosts Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellow Nicole Willson.


Calendar

We envisage a calendar of a minimum of 5 academic events a year including an annual lecture by an esteemed Black Atlantic scholar, research seminars and conferences, public engagement events (organised principally in partnership with Preston Black History Group) and cultural events. Please see News section for specific details.

For more details about the Institute contact:

Co-Directors

Lubaina Himid MBE
Professor of Contemporary Art
Dr Alan Rice Director
Professor of English and American Studies

Research at the Institute includes

Black British Art and Culture
Lubaina Himid & Susan Walsh 

Curating African & African Diasporic Art
Zoe Whitley & Christine Eyene

African Atlantic Literature and Culture
Alan Rice & Andrea Sillis

The Literature & Cultures of African Rivers
Yvonne Reddick

Black Atlantic Drama and Performance
Theresa Saxon

Caribbean Culture and Radical Legacies
Raphael Hoermann