Dr Aleema Gray is a Jamaican-born curator, researcher and public historian based in London. She was awarded the Yesu Persaud Scholarship for her PhD entitled Bun Babylon; A Community-engaged History of Rastafari in Britain. Aleema’s work focuses on documenting Black history in Britain through the perspective of lived experiences. Her practice is driven by a concern for more historically contingent ways of understanding the present, especially in relation to notions of belonging, memory, and contested heritage. She is the Lead Curator for Beyond the Bassline: 500 years of Black British Music at the British Library and the founder of House of Dread, an anti-disciplinary heritage studio.
Beyond the Bassline Launch
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Beyond the Bassline Launch
For centuries, Black communities have created music in the UK, melding global influences into a Black British sound that has echoed through generations.
Inspired by the British Library’s new Beyond the Bassline exhibition, libraries across the UK will host a free panel display from to help tell a national story about Black music in Britain through the Living Knowledge Network.
Beyond the Bassline is taking place in our partner libraries across the UK from 26 April–26 August 2024.