A film by AAIS Tutor David McAlmont is part of the exhibition, The Cult of Beauty at the Wellcome Collection. The exhibition explores notions of beauty across time and cultures to examine the profound influence of morality, status, health, age, race and gender on the evolution of ideas about beauty through history.

The exhibition explores three overarching themes: The Ideals of Beauty, The Industry of Beauty and Subverting Beauty. It invites visitors to question established norms, challenge preconceived notions of beauty, and encourages dialogue, reflection and more inclusive definitions of the term.

David’s film, Permissible Beauty (2022), which was made with photographer Robert Taylor and filmmaker Mark Thomas, among other Black artists and creatives, is on view as part of the exhibition for the first time. Responding to the absence of Black Queer visibility in national history, the film explores why some forms of beauty have been more permissible and valued over others. The film portrays portraits of six Black Queer people to offer a new chapter of British beauty.

The Cult of Beauty exhibition is on view to the public until 28 April 2024 at the Wellcome Collection in London.

Image: Permissible Beauty, 2022 © RCMG / Soup Co. Photograph from The Cult of Beauty, Wellcome Collection © Benjamin Gilbert, 2023.