Maud Sulter

Maud Sulter (19 September 1960 – 27 February 2008) was a Scottish contemporary fine artist, photographer, writer, educator, and curator of Ghanaian heritage. She first worked as a writer and poet, later turning the visual arts. Sulter was known for her collaborations with other Black feminist scholars and activists, capturing the lives of Black peoples in Europe.
Early life and education.
Maud Sulter was born on 9 September 1960 in Glasgow, Scotland to a Scots mother and a Ghanaian father. Maud Sulter attained a Master's degree in Photographic Studies from the University of Derby. Her maternal grandfather had been an amateur photographer. 
Career.
Black Women's Creative Project.
Sulter worked with "Sheba's Feminist Publisher's Collective" starting in 1982. As the only Black woman writer at the time, Sulter recognized an increasing need for writing tailored to Black women and co-founded the Black Women's Creative Project with Ingrid Pollard. The magazine created a variety of content ranging from "hair braiding, poetry and performance".
Art, photography, poetry.
"The Thin Blackline" (1985) exhibition created by Lubaina Himid, marked the beginning of Sulter's art career. The exhibition displayed the art of highly esteemed Black and Asian women artists, re-centering the visibility of Black and Asian art in the British art scene. She worked closely with Lubaina Himid, including on the book "Passion: Discourses on Blackwomen’s Creativity", published by Urban Fox Press in 1990.
Sulter's photographic practice included contemporary portraiture and montage. Her work typically referenced historical and mythical subjects. Her photography was exhibited in across the UK and internationally, including at the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1987; the Johannesburg Biennial (1996); and the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in 2003. She received a number of awards and residencies, including the British Telecom New Contemporaries Award 1990 and the Momart Fellowship at Tate Liverpool, also in 1990.
As well as writing about art history and curating many exhibitions, Sulter was also a poet and playwright, whose works include the collections "As a Blackwoman" (1985; her poem of the same title won the Vera Bell Prize from ACER, the Afro-Caribbean Education Resource, the previous year); "Zabat" (1989); and "Sekhmet" (2005). She wrote a play inspired by the background of former Ghana head of state Jerry Rawlings, entitled "Service to Empire" (2002).
She was a Lecturer of Fine Art at Manchester Metropolitan University.
Death and legacy.
She died in 2008, aged 47, after a long illness. She was survived by two daughters and a son.
Her work also created coalitions between Black feminist and lesbian groups. Through collaborations with Black women artists, writers and photographers across the world, Sulter successfully brought awareness to the histories and continued presence of Black women figures. Sulter is contemporarily recognized as a significant contributor to the History of feminism.
Maud Sulter's work is held in a number of collections, including the Birmingham City Museum and Art Gallery, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Arts Council Collection, the British Council, the Scottish Arts Council and the Scottish Parliament Collection.
In 2011–2012, her work was shown at Tate Britain, London, in the exhibition "Thin Black Line(s)", which was a re-staging of the seminal 1986 exhibition, "The Thin Black Line" at the ICA.
In 2017, her Muses (Calliope: the muse of epic poetry, and Terpsichore: the muse of dance), two portraits were put on show in the Walker Gallery as part of the largest LGBTQ+ art exhibition in the UK, "Coming Out: Sexuality, Gender, and Identity".