Michele Curtis

Michele is a multi-award-winning artist and most popularly known for her creative and digital placemaking project, ‘The Seven Saints of St. Pauls®’.

Michele has been working within the art, culture and heritage sectors for several years. When she began her journey in 2014, she aspired to create a platform to share and celebrate the achievements of the African Caribbean community in Bristol, by highlighting their positive contributions to the city.

As a child growing up in 1980s Britain, Michele saw little positive representation of the African Caribbean diaspora in popular culture or education. Living in a country that failed to acknowledge the history, contributions and accomplishments of Black, Indigenous and People of Colour caused Michele to struggle with feelings of belonging. This lack of affirming portrayals of Black people continued into adulthood.

Michele’s desire to break the cycle of silence and praise the countless achievements of Black British people led to the creation of the ‘Iconic Black Bristolians/Britons®’ project. To date, her work has focused on art, education and representation. Michele’s work is a combination of intangible cultural heritage and archival research, exploring how the African Caribbean diaspora’s presence has influenced British culture, heritage and identity post Empire Windrush. Michele is excited to be a Critical Friend for the AHI and add another dimension to the community’s fantastic work.