UK Black Pride is raising awareness of the dangers of misinformation regarding the Black trans community with a portrait campaign titled 16th Century Life Expectancy.
Developed by creative agency McCann London, the exhibition sees five leaders of the Black trans community reimagined as paintings from the 16th century, a period in history where the average life expectancy was just 35 years old.
Showcased at the world-renowned London auction house Christie’s, the exhibition is also available via an online gallery, while an Instagram hashtag, #16thCenturyLifeExpectancy, encourages members and supporters of the community to share their own portraits across social media.
The integrated campaign also includes several OOH spots across digital and non-digital outdoor billboards, donated by Clear Channel and wildposting media company, UNCLE. The portraits can also be found on both UK Black Pride social channels and in a BTS film.
The five individuals featured in the campaign are Talulah Eve (the first transgender woman on Britain’s Next Top Model), Amani Cosmo, Ebun Sodipo, Mzz Kimberley, /and Rico Jacob Chace.
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Co-founder and executive director of UK Black Pride, Lady Phyll, said ‘We’re excited to launch this project to showcase just how damaging misinformation can be to the lives of Black and brown queer individuals, specifically the younger generation.
“Imagine going on a journey to be your authentic self and seeing false information about the life expectancy of those who have had similar journeys.”
The campaign from the volunteer-led organisation aims to raise awareness on the impact of harmful pieces of misinformation, such as the misappropriated statistic that Black trans women have a life expectancy of just 35 . It also comes after calls from the organisation for parliament to improve rights to healthcare and shorten NHS wait times for the black LGBTQIA+ community.
McCann creative Ben Conway said: “We couldn’t be happier to collaborate with UK Black Pride to deliver this landmark campaign, to celebrate and platform the stories, beauty and legitimacy of our wonderful cast of trans and non-binary women of colour. ”
Clear Channel UK creative agency account director and queer channel crew co-captain Jason Jarvis said that supporting the LGBTQIA+ community has been “integral to Clear Channel’s efforts to promote diversity and inclusion”.
