The Benjamin Zephaniah

Community Archives

To submit your artwork to our exhibition, click on either Photography or Film & Video, and complete the form and upload your work. Title your work clearly, adding duration (film/video) or size of print if photographs.

We welcome everyone to get involved; it's suitable for hobbyists, students, semi and pros alike. Free to participate /submit

TBZL - Library

Volunteers

Research

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Welcome

What You'll Find Here:

The Benjamin Zephaniah Digital Archive (TBZA)

The archive is a permanent, catalogued repository focused on the preservation of Black British intangible digital cultural heritage:

Archival Assets | "Short Shorts" Collection | Global Perspectives

| Black British Lived Experiences | Medway's Black Community

If you or your organisation is interested in supporting or collaborating on community art, wellbeing, or social impact projects across Medway and beyond, we welcome partnership enquiries. Funders, charities, academic groups, and community organisations are invited to contact us at theblackarthub@gmail.com to discuss collaborative opportunities.

🖤 This archive is run by volunteers who are committed to preserving and sharing Black British and LGBTQIA+ histories with care.

💬📊 Help Shape the Archive

Your feedback helps us improve the archive, plan future activities, and support community-led work.

👉 Scroll down to complete the feedback form.

🎨 Featured Archive

VISIBILITY — Amanda Ethereal 2023

VISIBILITY — Amanda Ethereal 2023 is a portrait series documenting a Black transgender activist in Medway.

Through everyday spaces and direct presence, the work explores identity, visibility, and self-definition.

👉

View Project
📥 Download Data Sheet

BLACK BRITISH & LGBTQIA+ 2018-2028

🌈✨ Black LGBTQIA+: Fieldwork & Cultural Documentation

This collection documents fieldwork exploring Black LGBTQIA+ identities, histories, and cultural expression across Kent and London.

It includes oral histories, photography, creative writing, community materials, and AI-critical digital artworks, produced through ongoing research and community engagement.

The archive centres self-representation and counternarratives, preserving voices often excluded from mainstream records.

As a living, community-led digital archive, it reflects intersectional lived experiences — from activism and cultural spaces to everyday life and care.

Built using ethical, community-informed approaches, it contributes to a born-digital archive of Black LGBTQIA+ heritage and cultural memory.

UK Black Art – Fieldwork Project

UK Black Art: Fieldwork & Cultural Documentation

This collection documents fieldwork exploring Black British visual culture, identity, and creative practice. It includes photography, poetic responses, interviews, and digital/AI-assisted artworks produced as part of ongoing research.

The collection reflects lived experience, artistic expression, and cultural documentation, contributing to a born-digital archive of Black British heritage. It captures both observational and participatory fieldwork, aligning with ethnographic and practice-based research methods.

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Share your thoughts!

🎙️💬 Not a fan of forms?

You can share your feedback as a voice note or short video (up to 5 minutes) instead.

Email: theblackarthub@gmail.com or use wetransfer.com to upload your large file.

(MP4, MP3, WAV).

Why Your Feedback Matters

💡 Why Your Feedback Matters

Your feedback helps us:

📊 Plan future community events and workshops
💰 Secure funding to keep this archive accessible
♿ Improve accessibility for neurodivergent and disabled users
🌍 Understand who we are reaching and how
🧠 Shape research into Black British and LGBTQIA+ cultural archives

👉 This archive is community-led.

Your voice helps shape what comes next.

📊 What Happens to Your Feedback

👉 Your responses are used to:

Improve archive design and usability
Develop new exhibitions, workshops, and events
Support funding applications and community programmes
Inform ongoing PhD research

All responses are anonymised and handled with care.

QUICK NAVIGATION INDEX —

🔍📁 Explore the Archive

👉 Use buttons/cards:

📸 Photography
🎶 Sonic Poetry / Art Songs
🎤 Oral Histories
🎨 Digital & Visual Art
📁 Data Sheets

🤝 Community-Led Archive

This archive is shaped by the people it represents.

No gatekeepers. No corporate control.
Just community voices: preserving what matters.

We use our archives to develop both mainstream educational programmes and community-based learning activities for adults and young people.

💡 🎓 📖 Archive & Research

This archive is part of an ongoing practice exploring identity, representation, and cultural preservation through:

📸 Photography
🎶 Sonic Poetry
🤖 AI-assisted art
📁 Digital archiving

👉 Learn about the research

🧠✨ How Our Archive Works:

🧍🏾‍♀️ Lived Experience → 📸 Photography → 🤖 AI Interpretation → 🗂️ Archive → 🌍 Public Access

This archive transforms lived experience into cultural heritage through photography, creative practice, and digital archiving.

🧾📦 What You’ll Find Here:

🎤 Oral Histories
📸 Photography
🎨 Mixed Media / AI Hybrid
📝 Poetry & Sonic Art
🗂️ Archival Records
🌍 Community Stories

🎓 Archive Standards & Memberships:

🏛️ Archives & Records Association (ARA)
📚 Oral History Society (OHS)
🗂️ Friends of The National Archives

🤝🏽🏛️ This archive aligns with UK archival, oral history,

and cultural documentation standards.

🔄📊 From Capture to Archive - Workflow:

📸 Capture → 🎧 Record → 🧠 Reflect →

🧾 Document → 🗂️ Archive → 🌐 Share

👉 Guided by MAETT, MPM, MMAT,

The Benjamin Zephaniah

Community Archives

Welcome