NOMADIC GALLERIST PIVOTS FROM TV CAREER TO SHOWCASE CONTEMPORARY BLACK ART

A London art curator is working to raise the cultural and investment value of the work of contemporary black artists

Sukai Eccleston, from London, founded CasildART after a long career in the TV and film sector. She set up her company in 2019 to showcase the work of Black artists because of what she saw as a lack of opportunities to see work by artists of African heritage.

“My mission is to find meaningful and disruptive ways to put Black artists in the spotlight,” she said. “And to tell urgent and untold stories that simultaneously challenge perceived notions of Black art and reframe narratives about Black lives and experiences.”

During her broadcast TV career, Sukai worked on arts programme including the BBCs flagship arts strand Omnibus and the BBC2 arts review series ‘The Late Show.

“I’ve always had a passion for the visual arts and storytelling so setting up CasildART was a natural progression from my TV and media career,” she said. “But the central theme that connects my TV career and CasildART is representation. Artists need to have gallery representation to advance their artistic practise or career, and I believe we need to see ourselves represented in art too. Representation is key to validating your stories.”

Following her career in TV, Sukai moved into DVD publishing (working for Reader’s Digest and TimeLife) and finally into digital distribution and content acquisitions. She was harbouring a burning desire to work with artists and use her licensing experience to create commercial opportunities for their work.

In 2016, Sukai left the world of distribution and licensing to open an art shop dedicated to selling visual arts and artisan products: “The idea had been germinating for seven years: finally, I decided to take the plunge and follow my dream to open a small gallery selling the work of local artists: paintings but jewellery ceramics and textiles.”

This continued for around 18 months before Sukai discovered that the shop felt too confining – feeling limited by the lack of avenues to get this art seen.

Not giving up on her mission to show off the work of black artists, Sukai translated the commercial model she’d built at the shop and used it to create new opportunities for emerging talent by showcasing their work in pop up spaces and non-traditional gallery settings.

From her Berkeley Square office, Sukai named her business after great grandmother Casilda – an important woman in her life whose memory she wanted to honour: “Casilda means dwelling place – a home or a sanctuary,” Sukai said. “CasildART is – provides a space for artists of African heritage where their work can be appreciated. We also want to bring joy to the lives of others and art has the power to do that.”

Sukai is on a mission to raise the cultural and investment value of contemporary Black art so Black artists can have a sustainable practice.

In the last five years, there’s been a lot of discussion about the rise of Black art, particularly African art in the last five years, and there’s a concern in some quarters that this might not last. Sukai is determined to make sure that this is not just a trend: “I don’t want it to be a trend or a moment, I want this interest to be an ongoing commitment to representing and showcasing the work of Black artists as everyone needs to see and hear their stories. Where black art is accessible to all communities.”

CasildART is proud to present ‘Some Of Us Are Brave’ an exciting exhibition exploring feminine, form and function in art created by Black women. The exhibition which opens on 5th July, features the work of nine contemporary artists expressing ideas about what it means to be a woman and an artist at this time and explores themes ranging from ecology to sexuality, family and myth-making.