THE BLACK MAGUS TOUR 2026 - Power and Magnificence

Now in its nineth year and live, held annually in person at the National Gallery on the 6th January the Epithany

Celebrate The Epiphany what was once one of the greatest holy days in the Christian calendar at the National Gallery

• Why is there the image of the Black African Magus or King to be found in English churches ?
• What is a Black king doing in Renaissance Adoration paintings when no Black king visited Europe during the period ?
• Why is January 6th as important as December 25th in some European countries but goes un-noticed in England ?

The Black King Tour gives the answers.

Epiphany (proper noun) Ecclesiastical

The festival commemorating the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles in the persons of the Three Kings; observed on Jan. 6th, the 12th day after Christmas. (Matthew 2.1-12)

ephipany (common noun) Secular

1. a moment when you suddenly feel that you understand, or suddenly become conscious of, something that is very important to you

2. powerful religious experience

Our Spirits, Scars and Creativity have left marks and reminders across Europe and only our own, will bring those histories forward to be pointed out and remembered. Dee Lawrence Visual Artist

The Black Magus Tour is presented by Image of the Black in London Galleries in partnership with Black History Walks.

Your Host Michael I. Ohajuru DUniv, FRSA

Honorary Doctorate Open University (DUniv, 2024) Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA, 2022) Senior Fellow of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies (2014) with honours degrees in Physics (Leeds, 1974) and Art History (Open University, 2008). He retired in 2014 after a twenty-five-year career holding senior positions in international sales and marketing in the data and mobile communications industry, he lives in South London with partner the artist Ebun Culwin. He blogs, writes and speaks regularly on the black presence in Renaissance Europe, he has spoken at the Metropolitan Museum , New York, the National Gallery, London Tate Britain, British Library, National Archives and the Victoria Albert Museum on the subject. Founder of Image of the Black in London Galleries a series of gallery tours highlighting the overt and covert black presences to be found in the national art collections in London, founded 2010. He is the Project Director and Chief Evangelist of The John Blanke Project: a contemporary Art and Archive project celebrating John Blanke the Black trumpeter to courts of Henry VII and Henry VIII. Michael is the co-convener of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies What’s Happening in Black British History series of workshops fostering a creative dialogue between researchers, educationalists (mainstream and supplementary), archivists and curators, and policy makers, held 10 workshops over eight years, and a founder member of the Black Presence in British Portraiture network, managing their podcast – The BP2 Podcast