Keskidee Centre

 

Venue name: The Keskidee Centre.

Location: Gifford St, Islington.

Established: The building was a established in an old Victorian mission hall in 1971 as the first Black community venue in Britain

Founders, executives and directors: Oscar Abrams. The building was the base for a full-time drama company dedicated to black theatre, led by African-American Rufus Collins, who had originally come to Britain on tour with The Living Theatre

Islington Borough Archives holds material on the venue and has hosted an exhibition on it. There is material in the report The Arts Britain Ignores by Naseem Khan (Community Relations Commission, 1976) and in Akua Rugg’s Brickbats and Bouquets (Race Today, 1984) and online