Hawkins & Co
Hawkins & Co was the title for two group exhibitions and one solo show curated and produced by Kimathi Donkor in 2007 and 2008 to mark the bicentennial of the UK’s Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade by exploring the legacy of Sir John Hawkins, England’s first trans-Atlantic ‘slave trader’.
The first group exhibition, from 9th-30th March, 2007, featured works by six artists: Larry Achiampong, Jean-François Boclé, Kimathi Donkor, Corrine Edwards, Joelle Ferly and Tam Joseph at London’s Elspeth Kyle Gallery.
In 2008, an expanded, touring edition of Hawkins & Co was shown at the Contemporary Urban Centre (CUC) in Liverpool from 7th March to 5th May, during the city’s year as the ‘European Capital of Culture’ and concurrently with the Liverpool Biennial. On display were 70 works by 15 artists: Larry Achiampong (exhibiting as Kofi Achiampong), Faith Bebbington, Donna Berry, Jean-François Boclé, Marcia Brown, Chinwe Chukwuogo-Roy MBE, Paul Clarkson, Kimathi Donkor, Corrine Edwards, Raimi Gbadamosi, Tam Joseph, George ‘Fowokan’ Kelly, Keith Piper, Barbara Walker, Pauline Wiggins and Jane Woolner.
The final iteration of Hawkins & Co was Kimathi Donkor’s solo exhibition at the Market Place Theatre Gallery in Armagh, Northern Ireland, from 9 May–7 June, 2008.
In 2017, Donkor’s assemblage ‘UK Diaspora’, which was exhibited in all three ‘Hawkins & Co’ exhibitions, was acquired for permanent display by Liverpool’s International Slavery Museum. Other works from the exhibition are held in private collections internationally.
For more about these artworks:
Review of Hawkins & Co at Elspeth Kyle Gallery for Culture 24
Review of Hawkins & Co at Contemporary Urban Centre for Nerve
Analysis of ‘UK Diaspora’ in Nka: Journal of Contemporary African Art