Free Tate Britain Film

Film Screening and Discussion Permissible Beauty

2 people silhouetted against a 3-channel film installation, featuring from left to right, close up shots of a Black bearded person applying lipstick, a painted portrait of a white person, and an a Black person with purple eyeshadow

Photograph by Robert Taylor

Join us for a special presentation of Permissible Beauty

This event will see art historian, David McAlmont, acclaimed portrait photographer, Robert Taylor, and filmmaker, Mark Thomas, in conversation around their collaborative project Permissible Beauty.

This is the first UK public screening of Permissible Beauty, a film that examines how beauty has been defined, hailed and perceived in the past and how this is reflected in – and shaped by – our nation’s heritage. Responding to the absence of Black Queer visibility in our national story, the film explores why some forms of beauty are more permissible, more highly valued than others and – through new portraits of six Black Queer Britons – offers up a new chapter of British beauty for the 21st century.

This event will be introduced by researcher and project producer, Richard Sandell and include a screening of Permissible Beauty.

This event is part of Queer and Now, a festival dedicated to the powerful role of LGBTQIA+ art and culture in the UK.

Permissible Beauty is led by the Research Centre for Museums and Galleries, University of Leicester, in partnership with Historic Royal Palaces, English Heritage and National Trust. It is generously supported by Arts Council England through a National Lottery Project Grant.

Organised in partnership with the Research Centre for Museums and Galleries (RCMG), University of Leicester.

Tate Britain

The Clore Auditorium

Millbank
London SW1P 4RG
Plan your visit

Date & Time

10 June 2023 at 12.00–14.00

Aimed at audiences 16 and upwards, but suitable for everyone

Free with ticket

Tickets available to collect from the Manton ticket desk from 10.00