Leslie Primo and Miranda Kaufmann in conversation

Join art historian and broadcaster Leslie Primo, 'The Foreign Invention of British Art: from Renaissance to Enlightenment', and historian Miranda Kaufmann, 'Heiresses: Marriage, Inheritance and Caribbean Slavery', as they discuss their latest books.

In this wide-ranging conversation, they will uncover how immigration and cultural exchange have long been catalysts for artistic innovation revealing the diverse influences that shaped some of Britain’s most iconic artworks. Drawing on masterpieces from the National Gallery, including Holbein's, 'The Ambassadors' and Hogarth's 'The Shrimp Girl' and 'The Graham Children', and Zoffany’s 'Mrs Oswald', they will reframe the nation’s artistic heritage through a global lens.

The discussion will be chaired by Jelena Sofronijevic, host of the EMPIRE LINES podcast.

Leslie Primo is an art historian, lecturer, author, and broadcaster. Graduating from Birkbeck, University College, London with a BA in Art History, and an Art History MA in Renaissance Studies, he specialised in early Medieval art and architecture, Italian Renaissance art, German art in the age of Reformation, Medici and patronage and mythology in the work of Peter Paul Rubens. Primo worked as a lecturer at the National Gallery, London for 18 years as well as in the same capacity at the National Portrait Gallery for 10 years to present. Primo’s new book, ‘The Foreign Invention of British Art’ was published by Thames & Hudson on 5 June, 2025.

Dr Miranda Kaufmann is the author of 'Black Tudors: The Untold Story' (Oneworld, 2017) which was shortlisted for the Wolfson History Prize and Nayef Al-Rodhan Prize, and has sold over 50,000 copies. She is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of London’s Institute of Commonwealth Studies, an Honorary Fellow of the University of Liverpool, a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and the Rocal Society of Arts. She has written for 'The Times', 'Guardian', 'TLS', and 'BBC History Magazine'. Miranda lives in North Wales. She will be donating her profits from the book to reparative causes.

Jelena Sofronijevic is a producer, curator, writer, and researcher, working at the intersections of cultural history, politics, and the arts. They are also pursuing a practice-based PhD with Gray’s School of Art, curating exhibitions of Balkan and Yugoslavian/diasporic artists in British art collections. Their independent curatorial projects include 'Invasion Ecology' (2024), 'SEEDLINGS: Diasporic Imaginaries' (2025), and 'Can We Stop Killing Each Other?' at the Sainsbury Centre (2025), and they produce EMPIRE LINES, a podcast which uncovers the unexpected flows of empires through art.