Aurella Yussuf
Aurella Yussuf is a writer and art historian whose work explores the relationships between Black artists, art institutions, and artistic practice. She is particularly interested in how Black artists build community and create spaces beyond institutional frameworks, that foster both creative production and critical thought.
Aurella is a founding member of Thick/er Black Lines, an interdisciplinary art collective whose work has been exhibited at Project Row Houses (Houston), Tate Modern and Tate Britain (London), and Somerset House (London). From 2019 to 2022, she convened Kitchen Table Crit, a peer-led forum for Black artists, writers, and curators. She is also the co-creator of Blk Art Map, an online guide to Black art exhibitions across Britain.
She is currently a PhD researcher in the Department of Art History, Curating and Visual Studies at the University of Birmingham. Her doctoral project investigates how the value of Black art is constructed within the global market, in a context shaped by the commodification of Blackness, the ongoing devaluation of Black life, and the erosion of public arts infrastructure.