Pogus Caesar

Dr. Pogus Caesar (born 1953)^[1] is a British artist, archivist, author, curator, television producer and director. He was born in St Kitts, West Indies, and grew up in Birmingham, England.

Dr. Pogus Caesar
Born	1953 St. Kitts, West Indies
Nationality	St. Kitts and Nevis
Alma mater	Doctorate
Known for	Photography and curation
Notable work	"Muzik Kinda Sweet"
Style	Pointillism

Early life

Pogus Caesar was born on the Caribbean island of Saint Kitts. At an early age, came to Birmingham in Britain. He took up painting seriously in his early 20s. Caesar developed his own variation of Pointillism.^[2]

Career

During the early 1980s, Caesar was appointed director of the West Midlands Minority Arts Service. He was the first chairman of Birmingham International Film & Television Festival.^[3] For the Arts Council of Great Britain he curated with Lubaina Himid and contributed to exhibitions by Black artists, including Into the Open (1984) and Caribbean Expressions in Britain (1986). In the late 1980s, Caesar began working in British television – originally as a journalist on Channel 4's Black on Black, then as Series Producer, Director and Series Editor of entertainment, sport and multicultural programmes for Central Television, Carlton Television and BBC. Radio programmes include Mr & Mrs Smith BRMB Radio and The Windrush E. Smith Show, BBC West Midlands. In 1993 Caesar founded a production company, Windrush Productions. In 1995 Caesar was responsible for Carlton Television's multi cultural output - programmes including Respect, Drumbeat and the award-winning multicultural series Xpress. In 1995 Caesar was awarded the 'Prix Circom Regionale' for series producing and directing the Central Television series Xpress.

As a photographer and artist, Caesar has worked in Spain, India, South America, Sweden, Denmark, South Africa, Albania, and Jamaica, documenting diverse communities. Caesar's artwork and photographs have been acquired by the U.S National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A), National Portrait Gallery,^[4] Mappin Art Gallery in Sheffield, Leicester Museum & Art Gallery, Martin Parr Foundation in Bristol, Wolverhampton Art Gallery and Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, and represent important visual documents recording key figures in black British history.

He was presented with the Westmore Ezekiel Award in 2010 by Birmingham Black International Film Festival for his contribution to British television. Caesar's first publication, Muzik Kinda Sweet, is a photography book featuring black musicians including Lee "Scratch" Perry, Stevie Wonder and Grace Jones. The foreword for the book was written by Paul Gilroy and it was published by OOM Gallery Archive in 2010. Caesar's second book, Sparkbrook Pride (2011), consists of 70 black-and-white photos of residents of Sparkbrook. The book has a foreword written by Benjamin Zephaniah and an introduction by Paris-based photographer Nigel Dickinson. The limited edition photobook Handsworth Riots 1985, documenting the 1985 Handsworth riots in the Handsworth district of Birmingham was published in 2020.

In 2015, Caesar's photograph documenting the Handsworth riots of 1985 was presented by the Victoria & Albert Museum at the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Switzerland. Caesar was featured in Jacqui MacDonald's book Portraits of Black Achievement: composing successful careers' (Lifetime Careers Ltd, 2001). The book included extended interviews with 70 black achievers, describing what it means to be black in Britain today.

In 2022, Caesar was named in CasildART's list of the top six Black British photographers, including Charlie Phillips, Armet Francis, Neil Kenlock and James Barnor.^[5] Caesar also became a director of the Positive View Foundation. The charity supports deprived 16–25 year olds living in challenging conditions or whose upbringing led them to negative consequences, both for themselves and others amongst their community. In 2018 he was awarded a Honorary Doctorate by Birmingham City University for his outstanding contribution to the visual arts. In 2023 BCU appointed Caesar as Visiting Professor, Faculty of Computing, Engineering and Built Environment

DACS UK and ARS (Artist Rights Society) New York represent Pogus Caesar's extensive photographic and film archives.

Exhibitions

• Pogus Caesar Paintings – Cartwright Hall, Bradford, 1986. Solo exhibition
• Instamatic Views of New York – National Museum of Film and Photography, Bradford, 1986. Solo exhibition
• Into The Open – Mappin Art Gallery, Sheffield, 1984 (as Curator/Exhibitor). Group exhibition
• Caribbean Expressions in Britain – The Leicester Museum & Art Gallery, 1986 Central Museum and Art Gallery, Northampton, 1986, Cartwright Hall, Bradford, 1987 (as Curator/Exhibitor). Group exhibition
• Break in the Seal – Herbert Art Gallery, Coventry, 1988. Joint exhibition
• Sharp Voices, Still Lives – Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, 1990. Group exhibition
• Vibes: The Roots of Urban Music – Herbert Art Gallery, Coventry, 2004 / Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, 2005. Group exhibition^[6]
• Burning Images – Revolution Through The Lens – The Drum, Birmingham, 2005. Group exhibition^[7]
• Handsworth Riots - Twenty Summers On – OOM Gallery / BBC Mailbox, Birmingham, 2005. Solo exhibition^[8]
• From Jamaica Row – Rebirth of the Bullring – OOM Gallery, Birmingham, 2006. Solo exhibition^[9]
• Seeing Slavery – Potteries Museum & Art Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent, 2007. Group exhibition
• Religion, Slavery and Diaspora – Horniman Museum & Garden, London, 2007. Group exhibition
• Trespassers Will Be Shot – Survivors Will Be Shot Again – Images of Joburg & Capetown – Friction Arts, Birmingham, 2007. Solo exhibition
• The Art of Ideas – Birmingham, UK, 2008. Group exhibition^[10]
• That Beautiful Thing – Wolverhampton Art Gallery, Wolverhampton, 2008. Solo exhibition^[3]
• That Beautiful Thing – Three White Walls Gallery, Birmingham, 2008. Solo exhibition
• From Jamaica Row – Rebirth of the Bullring – Kinetic AIU, Birmingham, 2008–09. Solo exhibition
• Muzik Kinda Sweet: Photographs 1985–2009 – Fazeley Studios, Birmingham, 2009. Solo exhibition
• Pattern Recognition – City Gallery, Leicester, 2009. Group exhibition^[11]
• Participation: The film and workshop movement 1979–1991 – VIVID Birmingham Exhibition and archive project, 2009
• South Africa – Brighter Flame – Symphony Hall, Birmingham, 2010. Solo exhibition
• Muzik Kinda Sweet – British Music Experience, O2, London, 2011. Solo exhibition
• Reggae Kinda Sweet – Trinity Centre, Bristol, UK. 2012. Solo exhibition
• Reggae Kinda Sweet – The Drum, Birmingham, UK. 2013. Solo exhibition
• Islands on the Edge - Atlantic Wharf Gallery, Boston, USA, 2015. Group exhibition
• Staying Power, V&A Museum, London, 2015. Group exhibition
• Within and Without: Body Image and the Self, Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, Birmingham, 2019. Group exhibition
• Handsworth "1985" Revisited, Multi Site Billboard Installation with Benjamin Zephaniah, Birmingham, 2019. Joint exhibition^[12]
• Inspiring Photographs: Collecting for the Future, National Portrait Gallery, London,UK 2019–2020. Group exhibition
• Birmingham Revolutions: Power to the People, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, Birmingham,UK 2019–2020. Group exhibition
• Black Lives Matter, Multi-Site Billboard Installation, London and Birmingham,UK 2020. Solo exhibition
• Dub London: Bassline of a City, Museum of London,UK 2020. Group exhibition.
• Bristol Photo Festival: Island Life, Photographs from the Martin Parr Foundation, Bristol Museum & Art Gallery, Bristol,UK 2021. Group exhibition
• War Inna Babylon: The Community's Struggle for Truths & Rights, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London,UK 2021. Group Exhibition
• Life Between Islands: Caribbean-British Art 1950s – Now, Tate Britain, London,UK 2021/22. Group exhibition
• Creative Connections Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, Coventry, UK 2022. Group Exhibition
• We Are Birmingham, Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, Birmingham, UK 2022. Group exhibition
• The Black Triangle Atlas Gallery, London, UK 2022. Group exhibition
• Tower of Dreams Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, Birmingham, UK 2022. Video projection
• This is Britain: Photographs from the 1970s and 1980s National Gallery of Art,Washington, USA 2023. Group exhibition
• A Tall Order" Rochdale Art Gallery in the 1980s Touchstones, Rochdale, UK 2023. Group exhibition
• Identity" Graves Gallery, Sheffield, UK 2023/4. Group exhibition
• " National Portrait Gallery, London, UK 2023. Group exhibition
• " The Missing Thread: Untold Stories of Black British Fashion, Somerset House, London UK 2023. Group exhibition
• " The Tiny Spark: Thinktank, Birmingham Science Museum, Birmingham UK 2023 Single channel film projection
• " The Tiny Spark: Somerset House, London UK 2023 Single channel film projection
• Life Between Islands: Caribbean-British Art 1950s – Now, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Canada 2023/2. Group exhibition
• Friends in Love and War - L’Éloge des meilleur·es ennemi·es macLYON, Lyon, France 2024. Group exhibition
• Friends in Love and War - L’Éloge des meilleur·es ennemi·es Ikon, Birmingham, UK 2024/25. Group exhibition

Throughout his career, Caesar has provided support and development for a range of educational and cultural initiatives regionally, nationally and internationally.

Television production credits

• Black On Black, Channel 4, 1985–1986 Multi-cultural current affairs/entertainment series. Line Producer
• Here & Now, Central Television, 1986–1989. Multi-cultural series, featuring Lenny Henry, Maya Angelou, Nigel Benn, Craig Charles, Omar Sharif, Carmen Munroe, James Baldwin. Presenter and Director
• One World, Central Television. 1990–91. Multi-cultural series, featuring Al Sharpton, MC Hammer. Interviewer and Director
• I'm Black in Britain, Central Television, 1993; 30-minute documentary investigating racism in Britain. Interviewees include John Tyndall of National Front. Interviewer and Director
• Designer Babies, Central Television, 1993. 30-minute documentary on Vitro Fertilization. Interviewees included Patrick Steptoe CBE and Professor Robert Winston. Co-Producer and Interviewer
• The Cook Report, Central Television, 1994. 30-minute current affairs programme. Investigative Reporter
• An Eye on X, Windrush Productions for Carlton Television/ACGB 1995. Short film on micro sculptor Willard Wigan. Producer and Director
• Xpress, Windrush Productions for Carlton Television 1995 14 X 30-minute entertainment series featuring Sharron Davies, Derek Redmond, Mark Morrison, China Black, Rozalla, Ranking Roger of The Beat. Series Producer and Director
• Edwin Starr: Agent 00 Soul, Windrush Productions for Carlton Television 1995. Documentary on American soul singer Edwin Starr. Producer and Director
• Prince at The New Power Generation at the NEC, Windrush Productions for Carlton Television 1995. Short film on Prince and his band including interviews and concert footage. Producer and Director
• Love in Kenya, Windrush Productions for Carlton Television 1995. English woman on holiday finds love and marriage with Kenyan man. Producer and Director
• 15 Minute Meals, Windrush Productions for Carlton Television, 1995. Six chefs from around the world cook up local dishes in 15 minutes. Series Producer and Director
• Respect, Carlton Television, 1995 – six 30-minute sports series (documentaries on heavyweight champion boxer Lennox Lewis, British rugby player Martin Offiah, Olympic athlete Judy Simpson, Aston Villa footballer Tony Daley, Olympic athlete John Regis, and disabled tennis player Diana Bowles). Series Producer and Director
• Aaliyah Live in Amsterdam, Windrush Productions, 1995, 51-minute documentary on hip-hop superstar Aaliyah. Producer and Director
• The A-Force, BBC TV Manchester, 1997. 6 x 60-minute entertainment series, lifestyle documentary featuring Jada Pinkett Smith, Dave Chappelle, John Singleton and Isaac Hayes in Toronto, Canada. Senior Producer and Director
• The A-Force, BBC TV Manchester, 1997. 6 x 60-minute entertainment series, lifestyle documentary on AC Milan footballer George Weah in Italy. Senior Producer and Director
• The A-Force, BBC TV Manchester, 1997. 6 x 60-minute entertainment series, lifestyle documentary on Liverpool footballer John Barnes. Senior Producer and Director
• The A-Force, BBC TV Manchester, 1997. 6 x 60-minute entertainment series, Nas & The Fugees in Manchester. Senior Producer
• Drumbeat, Carlton Television, 1999. 6 x 60-minute entertainment/current affairs series. Interviewees including Lynden David Hall, Ruby Turner, Mr Vegas. Series Editor and Presenter

References

1. "Pogus Caesar", Diaspora Artists.
2. "Diaspora-artists: View details". new.diaspora-artists.net. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
3. Shannon, Roger (8 May 2008). "Life through a lens with Pogus Caesar". Birmingham Post. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
4. "Pogus Caesar - Person - National Portrait Gallery". National Portrait Gallery, London. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
5. "Top Six Black British Photographers You Should Know". CasildART. 7 February 2022. Retrieved 16 April 2022.
6. VIBES/Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery^{[permanent dead link]}
7. Burning Images Exhibition, 2005.
8. * Handsworth Riots – Twenty Summers On", BBC, 28 October 2014.
9. "From Jamaica Row – Rebirth of the Bullring" 29 April 2008 at the Wayback Machine. Photographs of the development of Birmingham's Bullring OOM Gallery/Pogus Caesar.
10. . Archived from the original on 7 February 2009. Retrieved 19 December 2008.
11. Pattern Recognition exhibition 23 May 2009 at the Wayback Machine, The City Gallery, Leicester.
12. Haynes, Jane (12 March 2019). "Why Handsworth Riots are being revisited with giant billboards across Birmingham". Birmingham Mail.

External links

• Sebastian ay, "11 questions with Dr Pogus Caesar", 14 November 2020
• "SHUTTER SPEED: An interview with Dr Pogus Caesar"
• "Photographer in Focus: Pogus Caesar", National Portrait gallery
• Liz Aubrey, "Poggus Caesar2, BuildHollywood, 9-6-2021
• Pogus Caesar at V&A
• "Pogus Caesar: Handsworth Riots 1985, Martin Parr foundation
• "Drinkers and dreamers: Martin Parr's favourite images of postwar Britain and Ireland – in pictures", The Guardian, 29 April 2021
• Rangzeb Hussain, "REVIEW: Handsworth Riots 1985 – Pogus Caesar’s photographs hold a tragic mirror to our age", I Am Birmingham, 27 October 2020
• Emalee Beddoes-Davis, "Artist in Focus: Pogus Caesar" 19 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine, Birmingham Museums, 27 April 2020
• Muzik Kinda Sweet exhibition in Birmingham South Africa – A Brighter Flame exhibition – Symphony Hall Birmingham / OOM Gallery
• "Behind The Lens Of Pogus Caesar", BBC TV
• Creation For Liberation exhibition, UK, Brixton 50
• The Pogus Caesar / OOM Gallery Archive at Birmingham City Archives, United Kingdom
• .Pogus Caesar interview for Outsideleft Magazine (Los Angeles)
• , Warwick University
• "History in the making", Birmingham Life article.