BLACK BOY joy is being celebrated through an exhibition of portraits currently on display at City Hall.

If you haven’t seen the photographs yet, you’ll have to be quick as the exhibition closes on Friday, November 1.

Created in response to the rise in youth violence across the capital, the SMILE-ing Boys Project works to combat negative imagery of young black men.

Acclaimed artist, Kay Rufai, the creator of the research-led mental wellbeing project, wants to raise awareness of the effectiveness of a public health approach to combatting youth violence and its benefits to those involved or at risk.

Speaking to The Voice earlier this year about an exhibition of the portraits in Battersea, Rufai said: “The exhibition was inspired by the desire to humanise and paint a more nuanced picture of the lives and realities of young black boys as a counter narrative to a lot of the misrepresentation attached to this demographic in the mainstream media.”

SMILE-ing Boys Project is on at City Hall, The Queen’s Walk, London, SE1 2AA, United Kingdom, until November 1.

The exhibition is free to attend.

For opening times and visitor information click here.