[Many thanks to Peter Jordens for bringing this item to our attention.] BBC News brings attention to the exhibition “Arthur France: Son of a Small Island,” presently on view at Harewood House (Harewood, Leeds) until February 26, 2023. A portrait of Arthur France, founder of Leeds’ West Indian Carnival, is “the first of a person of Afro-Caribbean heritage in the mansion’s art collection.”

A portrait of the founder of Leeds’ West Indian Carnival is the centrepiece of a new exhibition at Harewood House. The photograph of Arthur France will be the first of a person of Afro-Caribbean heritage in the mansion’s art collection.

Harewood House, near Leeds, was built using wealth generated by the Lascelles family’s West Indian plantations. The exhibition is part of efforts by the house to better reflect that history and its links with slavery.

The portrait is to be part of a series taken by Leeds-based photographer Ashley Karrell and was specially commissioned by the Earl and Countess of Harewood – David Lascelles and Diane Howse. “There were no portraits of West Indian heritage people in this collection,” the countess said. “Given Harewood’s history and what those people contributed to that history we felt this was an acknowledgement and recognition of that community.”

The exhibition shares the story of Dr Arthur France, who was born on the island of Nevis in 1935 and moved to the UK in 1957. It explains how he went on to become one of the leading community figures in Leeds, being awarded an MBE in 1997. [. . .]

For full article, see https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-leeds-64454905

For more on the exhibition, see https://harewood.org/whats-on/event/arthur-france-son-of-a-small-island