Pitika Ntuli was born in Mpumalanga, South Africa in 1942 and, as a teenage member of the Pan Africanist Congress, was at the frontline of apartheid resistance. Arriving in his 30s as an exile in England in 1978, after studying in the USA and imprisonment in Swaziland, he received qualifications at Middlesex Polytechnic and Brunel University in 1984 and 1985, respectively. Until his return to South Africa in 1994, Ntuli contributed widely to exhibitions and arts education in London and beyond, known particularly for his critical writings on sculpture, orature, and the importance of maintaining a collective cultural identity in the face of exile.

Listen to his story here or read the full biography on the BURU: https://www.buru.org.uk/contributor/pitika-ntuli

Omeima Mudawi-Rowlings was born in Khartoum, Sudan in 1969. Having lost her hearing due to meningitis, her family relocated to England in 1981, as there were no schools for the deaf in Khartoum. She earned a BA in Textile Design at the Surrey Institute for Art and Design (SIAD) and in 2003 she founded Resonant Arts, an arts-led initiative focused on deaf women, facilitating integration and the exchange of artistic practices between hearing and deaf female artists. Her textiles feature organic and architectural designs combining influences from both Afro-Arab and Western traditions.

Listen to her story here or read the full biography on the BURU: https://www.buru.org.uk/contributor/omeima-mudawirowlings

Louis Maqhubela was born to Xhosa parents in South Africa in 1939. During 1957‒59, while still attending high school, he started studying part-time under artists Cecil Skotnes and Sydney Komalo at the Polly Street Centre in Johannesburg. After spending time with the South African expatriate artist, Douglas Portway, in Cornwall, England, Maqhubela embraced a new direction towards modernist abstraction. In 1978 he settled in London, where he attended Goldsmiths' College and the Slade School of Fine Art (University of London).

Listen to his story here or read the full biography on the BURU: https://www.buru.org.uk/contributor/louis-maqhubela

Emmanuel Taiwo Jegede was born in Ayegbaju Ekiti, in the Yoruba-speaking region of Nigeria, on 9 June 1943. After early art training in his homeland, in 1963 he moved to England to study painting and decoration at Willesden College of Technology, London (1963–66), before training in sculpture and bronze-casting at Hammersmith School of Art, London (1966–70). Jegede was an active member of the Caribbean Artists’ Movement (CAM) and co-founded the Rainbow Art Group, promoting emerging artists from Africa and the Caribbean. His artwork was inspired by traditional Yoruba art, blending his fine art training with his Nigerian heritage to create a unique fusion of European figurative modernism and Yoruba aesthetics.

Listen to his story here or read the full biography on the BURU: https://www.buru.org.uk/contributor/emmanuel-taiwo-jegede-

Gavin Jantjes was born in District Six in Cape Town, South Africa in 1948. He attended Michaelis School of Fine Art at the University of Cape Town between 1966 and 1969, after which he received a scholarship to study at the Hochschule für bildende Künste Hamburg, Germany between 1970 and 1972. Producing controversial artworks criticising the apartheid regime in South Africa, Jantjes was exiled to England in 1982, where he has since taught, published and exhibited widely, the themes of internationalism and belonging being central to his painting and printmaking.

Listen to his story here or read the full biography on the BURU: https://www.buru.org.uk/contributor/gavin-jantjes

Fathi Hassan was born into a Nubian-Egyptian family in Cairo, Egypt on 10 May 1957, after his family were displaced with the creation of Lake Nasser in 1952. He was educated in Egypt and in Italy (via a scholarship) and initially used his art to work as a commercial illustrator in Cairo. Hassan subsequently lived in Italy and Iraq before settling in Edinburgh, Scotland in 2018, already an established artist working with image and text prior to his migration to the UK.

Listen to his story here or read the full biography on the BURU: https://www.buru.org.uk/contributor/fathi-hassan

Siddig el Nigoumi was born in Sudan in 1931. He attended the School of Art in Khartoum, where he specialised in pottery and sculpture. In 1957, he moved to England to study at the Central School of Art. He is known for his use of traditional African techniques and his handbuilt pots in burnished red earthenware with incised decoration, often with calligraphic inscriptions.

Listen to his story here or read the full biography on the BURU: https://www.buru.org.uk/contributor/siddig-el-nigoumi-

Chinwe Chukwuogo-Roy was born in Awka, Nigeria on 2 May 1952 and was displaced as a refugee in the Biafran War before finally settling in the family home in Umubele, Nigeria. In 1975, Chukwuogo-Roy moved to England to pursue her art studies, attending East Ham College before earning a BA in Graphic Design from Hornsey College of Art (now Middlesex Polytechnic) in 1978. Becoming a painter in 1988, In 2002, Chukwuogo-Roy was selected by The Commonwealth Secretariat to paint HM Queen Elizabeth II in honour of her Golden Jubilee. Among other notable works are her African Diaspora series of paintings depicting the African slave trade, commissioned by Black British athlete, Kriss Akabusi in 1996.

Listen to her story here or read the full biography on the BURU: https://www.buru.org.uk/contributor/chinwe-chukwuogoroy

Gabriel Choto was born in 1995 in Harare, Zimbabwe, moving to England when he was five years old, eventually pursuing art studies at Leeds College of Art (2012), and in London at Camberwell College of Arts (UAL, 2014) and Central St Martins (UAL, 2019). Choto's practice explores themes of identity, diaspora, and familial connections. His works, frequently based on family photographs, blend printmaking and painting, often layering oil paint over etchings to create intimate portraits, exploring personal history and the broader experiences of the African diaspora, and emphasising the importance of cultural roots and personal journeys.

Listen to his story here or read the full biography on the BURU: https://www.buru.org.uk/contributor/gabriel-choto

Frank Bowling, OBE, RA, was born in 1934 in Bartica, British Guiana (now Guyana), and immigrated to England at the age of 19, settling in London. He began his career as a figurative painter, but following his encounters with American Expressionist painting in New York in the 1960s, his work moved towards abstraction. In 2005, Bowling was the first Black British artist to be elected a Royal Academician; a major retrospective was held at Tate Britain in 2019.

Listen to his story here or read the full biography on the BURU: https://www.buru.org.uk/contributor/frank-bowling