JULY 19th 2021 Mahienour el-Masri released from prison.

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JULY 2021   Announcing the proposed book on The Black Portraits.                                                      Twenty Lives  Twenty Stories  Twenty Paintings
Recording, Remembering, Celebrating Twenty-First Century Human Rights Champions from Around the World.
The objective of the book is to reach a far wider audience than would be possible through the exhibitions only.
The book will be written in language to appeal to a wide general readership in any country. It is also aimed at art and portrait lovers, the human rights and the social justice community, a modern history and politics audience and communications and journalism audience.

The main body of the book will replicate the exhibition. It will show all The Black Portraits and the Actual Portraits along with information about each painting as at an exhibition. Because the paintings are much larger than the book close-up images will also be included.
The exhibition events will be replicated by words from Guest Contributors on each of the Champions that describe the person, the injustice they stood up against and the surrounding politics from their first hand knowledge.

To set the whole project in the context of the twenty-first century the book will have separate chapters, Guest Contributed, on Information (that is Mainstream Journalism and its Agendas and its Financing and Social Media), on Human Geography including United Nations, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, on Art in Education, on Civic Learning and on the current threat to Journalists.

An Appendix will contain a description and explanation of each Black Portrait painting and show preparatory water colours. Of the actual portraits there will be photographs about the painting of them and a chat about each of the sitters by Paul Piercy.
The Appendix will also contain biographies of all the Guest Contributors.
We are hoping for a Forward by the Director of Amnesty International. Introduction by Paul Piercy and a Bibliography, Filmography and Index.

The book which is in preparation so far has 105 illustrations and 14,600 word count. With the Guest Contributors this is expected to reach 30,000. At present 136 pages in A4 format.

November 2022. Progress has been held up due to ill healt. This book project will recommence in February 2023

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