Maud Sulter

Maud Sulter was a visual artist, writer, playwright and cultural historian. She was born in 1960 in Glasgow of Scots and Ghanaian descent, and was considered immensely proud of her African and Scottish heritage.

Maud held a Masters degree in photographic theory and wrote and lectured extensively on art history, focusing on Women’s art practice 1840 – 1990. During the 1980s and 1990s she was an active figure in cultural politics. She recently explored the continuing presence of Africa in Europe through an exhibition about Jeanne Duval at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.

Her book of poems As a Blackwoman won the Vera Bell prize for poetry in 1985. Other publications include the poetry collection Zabat Narratives and the play Service to Empire. Maud Sulter also edited the book Passion: Discourses in Blackwomens Creativity.

Art exhibitions include African Themes, Victoria and Albert Museum London (1993) Intimate Lives, City Art Centre Edinburgh (1993) and Hysteria, Tate Gallery Liverpool (1991). She curated several international exhibitions, and her artwork, Akwambo, has been exhibited at the Scottish Parliament.

Maud was a very private person and latterly she lived in Dumfries on the outskirts of a monastery. She died in March 2008.