Amanda Holiday facts for kids

Amanda Bintu Holiday (born 1964) is a talented artist, filmmaker, and poet from Sierra Leone and Britain. She uses her creativity to tell stories and explore important ideas.

Her Story

Amanda Holiday was born in Sierra Leone in 1964. When she was five, her family moved to the United Kingdom, and she grew up in a town called Wigan. She studied art at Jacob Kramer College, where she was classmates with famous artists like Damien Hirst. Later, she went to Wimbledon School of Art and finished her studies in 1987.

Amanda was an important part of the "second wave" of the Black British art movement. This was a time when many Black artists in Britain were creating powerful art and sharing their unique perspectives. She made large drawings using different materials. One of her famous works, The Hum of History, used charcoal and chalk to tell a hopeful story about the 1980s. Her art was shown in big exhibitions during that time, like Creation for Liberation and Black Art: Plotting the Course.

She also directed short videos. One film, Employing the Image (1989), showed the work of other Black artists like Sonia Boyce and Keith Piper. Amanda directed other short films too, such as Umbrage and Miss Queencake. Miss Queencake was shown at the Torino Film Festival. It tells the story of a mixed-race teenager named Bira who creates a fantasy world to escape the everyday racism she faces. Another film, Manao Tupapau, explored the experience of a model named Merahi metua no Tehamana who posed for the painter Paul Gauguin in Tahiti.

From 2001 to 2010, Amanda lived in Cape Town, South Africa. There, she wrote and directed several educational television shows.

In 2019, Amanda finished a master's degree in Creative Writing (Poetry) at the University of East Anglia. In 2020, her poetry was recognized when she was shortlisted for the Brunel International African Poetry Prize. In the same year, she started Black Sunflowers Poetry Press. This was the UK's first poetry press funded by many people contributing small amounts of money. As of 2021, she is working on her PhD at Brighton University.

Her Creative Work

Art Exhibitions

Amanda Holiday's art has been shown in many important exhibitions. These shows often featured the work of Black artists and helped to share their voices. Some of her exhibitions include:

• Creation for Liberation 3rd Open Exhibition: Contemporary Art by Black Artists (1985)
• Some of Us are Brave (1986)
• Creation for Liberation 4th Open Exhibition: Contemporary Art by Black Artists (1987)
• Umbrage, a solo show (1987)
• Black Perspectives (1987)
• The Room Next to Mine (1988)
• The Image Employed: The Use of Narrative in Black Art (1988)
• Black Art: Plotting the Course (1988)
• Incantations: Reclaiming Imagination
• Black Art: New Directions (1989)
• Progress Reports, Art in an era of Diversity (2010)

Films She Directed

Amanda Holiday has directed several films, including:

• Babel (1988)
• Employing the Image - Making Space for Ourselves (1989)
• Umbrage (1990)
• Miss Queencake (1991)
• Manao Tupapau (The Spirit of the Dead Watches) (1993)
• The Curtain (1992)

Her Writing

Amanda Holiday is also a poet and writer.