Dr Errol Francis is artistic director and CEO of Culture&. Errol studied photography and fine art at Central Saint Martin’s, University of the Arts London. His doctoral research at the Slade School of Fine Art, University College London focused on postcolonial artistic responses to museums.
Prior to his career in the arts, Errol was a mental health campaigner and advocate for the rights of racialised communities in the mental health services. He served on public enquires into the treatment of Black patients and co-authored Big, Black and Dangerous (1993) Report of the Committee of Inquiry into the deaths of three patients at Broadmoor Hospital and Breaking the Circles of Fear: A Review of the Relationship between Mental Health Services and African and Caribbean Communities (2002) published by the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health.
Errol works with museums on collaborative public programmes and consultancy. He also leads the New Museum School (NMS) which partners with the University of Leicester to provide studentships for people from diverse communities. NMS enables them to pursue studies in museum studies and socially engaged practice to progress their careers in the heritage sector. Errol is involved in a number of research projects and is visiting lecturer at UCL, Sotheby’s Institute of Art; Honorary Lecturer at the University of Exeter and Visiting Fellow at the University of Leicester.