B l a c k | C U L T U R E | re i m a g i n e d
VOLUME 1 | ISSUE 1 | $10
Inaugural Issue:
Celebrating Black Women in the Arts
EBONY PATTERSON Take a journey into Patterson’s prolific garden of floral patterns, glitter, and embellishments
MIKHAILE SOLOMON SIENNA SHIELDS An exclusive look into the Top Picks for Black art during Art Basel 2018 Photograph | Zanele Muholi | Bester VII, Newington Green, London | 2017
Zanele MUHOLI
Exhibiting at “Remember to React” NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale
OCTOBER 9– DECEMBER 9
E DU C ATIO N AS T H E PR AC TIC E O F F R E E DO M Alumni exhibition curated by Jasmine Wahi DECEMBER 6 –9
YO U N GA RT S AT PU L S E CO N T E M PO R A RY ART FAI R YO U N GARTS .O RG
2018-19 Season THE MUSICAL EVENT OF THE SEASON!
Porgy
and
Bess
FEATURE STORY
EBONY PATTERSON
By George and Ira Gershwin, DuBose and Dorothy Heyward
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58
BLACK AND BASEL
30
JANUARY
Mikhaile SOLOMON
NOVEMBER
FEBRUARY
BARBER
M ONCAYO
MARCH RAVEL
Essay No. 1, Opus 12
Huapango
Alborada del Gracioso
BEETHOVEN
RACHM A NI NOV
TCHAIKOVSKY
Concerto for Violin and
Rhapsody on a
Piano Concerto No. 1
Orchestra
Theme of Paganini
in B flat Minor
Angelo Xiang Yu, violin
Natasha Paremski, piano
Svetlana Smolina
DVOŘÁK
NI E LSE N
RIMSKY-KORSAKOV
Symphony No. 9
Symphony No. 4
From the New World
The Inextinguishable
Capriccio Espagnol
APRIL HOLST Th e Perfect Fool: Ballet Music LIEBERMANN Concerto for Cello and Orchestra Julian Schwarz, cello
DEBUSSY
SHOSTAKOVICH
La Mer
Symphony No. 5
Contents Publisher + Executive Editor Melissa Hunter Designer + Assistant Editor Ed King Website Dudley Alexis Copy Editors Angela Carroll Martina Dodd Writers Jason Jeffers, Angela Carroll, Daniel Dunson, Tiffany Ward, Ayodeji Rotwina Photographer Rod Deal
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F O R T I CKE T S A N D V E N U E I N F O R M AT I O N S OU T HFL OR I DAS Y MP H O N Y. O RG | 9 5 4- 5 2 2 - 8 445
SUGARCANE MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER 2018 | INAUGURAL Issue
Advertising sales@sugarcanemag.com Sponsorships engage@sugarcanemag.com Submission + Guidelines submission@sugarcanemag.com sugarcanemag.com/submissions (646) 770-3409 8325 NE 2nd Ave Miami, FL 33138 editor@sugarcanemedia.net http://sugarcanemag.com Special Thanks Dudley Alexis, Dr. Michael Butler, Franklin Sirmans, Rosie Gordon Wallace, Marshall Davis, Babacar M’Bow, Taj Hunter Waite, Radical Partners, Robbie Bell, Tomeka Napper
07. editor’s note 08. Diaspora notes 37. sienna shields 44. Naiomy Guerrero 50. visions of eatonville 52. the power of three BLACK AND BASEL 2018
This guide gives you everything you need to find artists of African descent. You will be able to explore Miami neighborhoods that have an exciting history and support the local Black Miami art scene, and larger fairs in commercial districts.
©2018 Sugarcane Magazine is a quarterly magazine which focuses on art and intellectualism from Africa and the African Diaspora. All contents are protected by copyright law and may not be reproduced without written consent from the publisher. The advertiser is solely responsible for ad content and holds the publisher harmless from any errors and/or any trademark or copyright infringement.
#weareblackculture | SUGARCANEMAG.com
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editor’s letter | INSIGHTS + BEGINNINGS
Insights from our Writers
here we go
Tiffany Autriana Ward Bronx based artist Shellyne Rodriguez one of my favorite woman artists of the moment. She’s an Afro-Puerto Rican multi-disciplinary artist who represents the black and brown cultural experience of New York. From Shellyne: “My work is a broke Baroque. A broken Baroque. Or just Quebrao which is “broken” in “broken Spanish” and an anagram for Baroque so it does the job of being both things in one word. This Quebrao as an iteration of decolonization, or guerilla warfare extends into the traditions of Hip Hop culture, born of the poor Black & Puerto Rican kids of the South Bronx.”
Welcome to the first printed issue of Sugarcane Magazine! I am so ex-
cited to have you as the newest member of our family. In 2005 I had the
idea to start a magazine celebrating Black art and culture while honor-
ing the richness, diversity and talent of Africa and her diaspora. After
many years as a digital space, we are finally adding a quarterly print edi-
tion document the meaningful and creative work of people of color.
We’ve always wanted to be a print publication and we promise to use this
I also deeply admire her activist and community organizing work. She really questions the role of artists in gentrification, and calls us to task - holding us accountable in the spaces we occupy. She’s part of Take Back the Bronx movement as well as various movements that look to decolonize art spaces, especially in New York City.
platform to inspire and educate.
This issue is also important because it recognizes and applauds the power of the Black woman in the arts. We’ve seen and heard the discouraging statistics about Black artists, administrators and Black women in the arts field. Despite those numbers, we still create, and make space for others to create and work successfully in a challenging field. Melissa Hunter Davis, Founder and Publisher of Sucarcane Magazine
This quarter’s printed issue looks at artist Ebony G. Patterson and her
survey at the Perez Art Museum Miami. Ebony uses the theme of church
hymns to explore the Black body. We talk to Sienna Shields about her
work, and how she actively helps artists around her soar. Mikhaile Solo-
mon took an idea and created a successful art fair that gives artists of
color a viable and fresh place to sell their work during Art Week Miami. Plus, the Musee du Civilizations Noir opens in December 2018 and Black
women are the force behind the scenes assuring there is a place for Black
global culture to be honored at the table. We close this issue with pho-
tography about rural Florida by Johanne Rahaman, and our guide to Art
Week Miami.
We hope you enjoy and share this first printed issue with your colleagues;
and more importantly, support the Black women featured in our pages.
#weareblackculture | SUGARCANEMAG.com
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a r o p s a i D s e Not
B. FAULKNER BY: Angela N. Carroll
Windows, Doorways, Birds & Butterflies: The Exultant Collages of B. Faulkner
I visited the studio of interdisciplinary artist B. Faulkner to view her latest collection and get some insights about her process and creative influences. Faulkner has an education in photojournalism and a keen appreciation for imaginative literary works. Her style is undeniably informed by legendary artists Romare Bearden, Gordon Parks, Roy DeCarava and James Van Der Zee, but her approach is also exquisitely unique.
Interdisciplinary artist B.Faulkner engages collage
with a surgical precision that transforms the mundane
occurrences of Black womanhood into awe inspiring and otherworldly revelations.
Faulkner has an education in photojournalism and a keen appreciation for imaginative literary works. Her style is
another shows a girl sprint-flying like a bird down
about collage is the search. I like to search for the
Gordon Parks, Roy DeCarava and James Van Der Zee, but
covenant of sisters armed with rifles, candles and
having an idea or having a picture in your brain
undeniably informed by legendary artists Romare Bearden, her approach is exquisitely unique. I visited her studio to
view her latest collection and gain some insights about her creative process.
Art supplies, dozens of magazines and innumerable clip-
pings lay scattered across the floor of her studio. A large unfinished crimson collage sits propped on an easel that
stands at the center of the chaos. Faulkner’s process requires
wine in the throes of sacred ceremony. Yet another depicts a woman with the body of an ibis sitting on the edge of a bathtub under the shadow of
her expansive black wings. I stood staring at the
ibis-woman for longer than I can recall. It is easy to get lost in the surreal and subtly familiar narratives Faulkner constructs.
Angela N Carroll (AC): You’ve experimented with
clutter in search of the perfect fragment. Every figure, piece
painting with oil and acrylic, illustration, sculpture
of furniture, architectural molding, or tapestry featured in
her collages are sculpted from tiny pieces of larger images
that have been torn, cut, or ripped from the pages of myriad print publications. The resultant creations present intimate
a wide range of mediums from photography to
me that does not believe that I will find all of my
pieces, but I always do. There’s a drama about it. It doesn’t show up exactly the way it shows up in my
mind, but it’s like faith. There is something calming about putting pieces together. It’s meditative. Almost mindless. Looking at pictures. Cutting them out. The sounds of it. I didn’t get that sensation mixing paint.
a lip, but you construct whole environments. Talk
use all of the elements that I learned as a photog-
SUGARCANE MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER 2018 | INAUGURAL Issue
there. Every time I start a collage there is a part of
on collage?
scenes Black women are depicted as omnipresent masked
fat babies or dexterously braid a young girls thick hair. While
and not knowing if the images to create it are out
AC: Your collages are incredibly intricate. Some
concentration in collage. What drew you to focus
B. Faulkner (BF): Collage for me was a way to
goddesses. In others, as mothers with huge hands that hold
images. [There is] something very alluring about
and for the last few years you have had a deeper
interiors with stunning naturalistic detail and Black women
as mystical vanguards over the spaces they inhabit. In some
8
a block in Baltimore City. One more reveals a
a meticulous attention to detail, an almost photographic
memory and the persistent patience to cull through piles of
B. Faulkner | “Keepers of the Monarch” (2018) 36x40” | Mixed media collage
B. Faulkner | “Seance” (2017) | 24x36” | Mixed media collage
artists will add slight variations, change an eye or about your process.
incorporate all of those different mediums. I could
BF: The way I select my images, sometimes it
rapher [and] drawing. It’s a place where all those
out and it will suggest its own kind of image in my
things can be in play. I think what I love the most
comes from something I have read, a line will stick mind. I see photographs immediately. I think
#weareblackculture | SUGARCANEMAG.com
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capture in that moment. I am
the outside world. I am always
birds inside these spaces. We
whatever reason, I pick up a
ways. They all tell a story. There
and contained. That tension is
not one of those people. For
It ’’s Interesting
camera and I alter moods.
to me how radical it is to be a
AC: Baltimore City and urban
Black woman documenting
landscapes are another feature
where we are now. I think it
in your work, especially iconic traits like the bright red brick
speaks to how invisible our
or marble stairs of row homes.
narratives really are. I am from
Those inclusions help to
Baltimore, I can’t separate my
scenes in reality.
ground otherwise supernatural
work from that. I am showing
BF: It’s interesting to me
who I am and where I’ve been.
how radical it is to be a Black
showing windows and door-
is a narrative in each window.
All the mystical magical things
that happen, happened behind
closed doors. While I was pregnant I listened to a lecture by
the Honorable Louis Farrakhan.
He was discussing relationships between Black men and Black women. He said anyone who can denature you, devalues you. That resonated. That’s
why you will see butterflies and
don’t belong inside. I felt giant always present in the work. It’s
important that you are looking at these women through door-
ways and windows. I am giving you access to these narratives.
The figures are oblivious to the voyeurism. I’m showing their
safe spaces. Those stories are
not respected enough outside of those safe spaces. These women exist.
woman documenting where
– B. FAULKNER
we are now. I think it speaks
to how invisible our narratives B. Faulkner | “Canary Girl” (2013) | 24 x 36” | Mixed media collage
in terms of images. Or some-
to look at the room in conjunc-
lot. I realized that the people
piece of something while flip-
that’s how you feel and see
of saved my life in those mo-
times, I will see a piece of a
ping through a magazine, and that little hand or gesture will
inspire a collage. Now I sketch
the thing that I initially thought.
the whole picture. That is how
you will understand who these women are.
But when I first started making
AC: Black woman and girls are
imaginary, it was all in my head.
who are presented in incredibly
collages, my only sketch was I didn’t even really see what
I was seeing, I just imagined
prominent figures in your work spirited ways.
that the hand said something
BF: I never aim to make the
thought. Its wild to me how
literally fragments, pieces of
and attempted to finish the
when I see something or start a
piece I don’t see the figure in it, I always see the room first. My
work is so much about environment, space, and it’s almost as characteristic as the figures in it. The space is so important.
That’s why my spaces have so many details in them, it’s not
just a room. You should be able
10
tion with the figures in it and
figures be like me. They are
other larger images. Symboli-
cally I have been taking pieces of all of these narratives I have had and I am putting them
into the construction of these
women. When I started making my work, and thinking in terms of collage and assemblage, it was during a time when I was
pregnant and going through a
SUGARCANE MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER 2018 | INAUGURAL Issue
who came to my aid and kind ments were always women. I
made a vow to myself that no
matter what I did it would serve women. I feel like I’m supposed to be telling our stories. My
grandmother is West Indian.
We have family from the Carolinas. Family in Baltimore City.
My life has been a collage. I try to pay homage to all of that.
These are the stories that come out and I’m glad that I made it,
really are. I am from Baltimore, I can’t separate my work from that. I am showing who I am
and where I’ve been. The thing I find beautiful about that is
that where I grew up looks like
D.C., looks like Philly. Baltimore is its own entity, with its own characteristics, but it’s also
universal. Girls that look like me and come from where I come
from or have parents that come from where they come from probably grew up in similar
spaces. I’m documenting those stories for my child unapologetically.
because I’ve never seen work
AC: Doorways and windows
look like snapshots is because
Viewers literally peer into an
like it before. The reason they of my history in photography. I think about Roy DeCarava,
Gordon Parks or James Van Der
also recur in your work. .
intimate interior to observe a scene.
Zee, I really fell in love with just
BF: There is a lot about myself
Some can pick up a camera
that has felt contained, or like
taking a picture in the moment. and capture what they need to
emotionally and spiritually
I could not 100% be myself in
B. Faulkner | “The Basketmakers” (2013) 24x30” | Mixed media collage
#weareblackculture | SUGARCANEMAG.com
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.org
REMEMBER TO REACT
This Month at The Ali
60 YEARS OF COLLECTING This self-portrait by South African artist Zanele Muholi along with works by 90 other artists on view through June 19.
SOULFUL SUNDAYS November 11 | 6 - 9pm | $5 admission Soulful Sundays features South Florida’s top performers and bands in various genres ranging from Soul, R&B, Neo Soul and Blues to Jazz and Funk. End your weekend in a relaxed atmosphere on our outdoor courtyard. Food and beverage for purchase. SWINGING FRIDAYS - JAZZ ON THE BOULEVARD November 30 | 7 – 10 pm Jazz Concert Ashanti Cultural Arts hosts this monthly interactive event where you can learn the art of swing dance from professional dancer and performer Mr. Bradley Rogers. The lesson is followed by a jazz concert where you can practice your newly learned skills. This month we feature jazz musician Jesse Jones, Jr. 6 – 7 pm Swing Dance Class | $7 admission for Jazz Concert. $5 for Dance Class l $10 for Dance Class and Jazz Concert. ESTHER ROLLE EXHIBITION November 1 - 30 Rock Road Restoration Historical Group presents an extraordinary exhibit about actress Esther Rolle. Come celebrate the life and legacy of this award-winning Pompano Beach resident, and learn about her impact on the world as an African American woman in the entertainment industry in the 1960s. MUSIC IS YOUR ALI Thanks to a grant from the Keeping the Blues Alive Foundation, the Ali Cultural Arts offers free music lessons in piano, guitar and drums each Saturday. Call 954-545-7800 for the schedule.
For more information PompanoBeachArts.org Click on Ali, BaCA or Events Follow us @PompanoBeachCRA
This exhibition is supported by Dr. David and Linda Frankel, David and Francie Horvitz Family Foundation, Wells Fargo and Funding Arts Broward, Inc.
@nsuartmuseum nsuartmuseum.org | 954-525-5500 One East Las Olas Blvd. Fort Lauderdale 33301 Exhibitions and programs at NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale are made possible in part by a challenge grant from the David and Francie Horvitz Family Foundation. Funding is also provided by Nova Southeastern University, Hudson Family Foundation, Conni Gordon, Wege Foundation, Community Foundation of Broward, Broward County Board of County Commissioners as recommended by the Broward Cultural Council and Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau, the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture. NSU Art Museum is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums.
Take Zanele Muholi, Bester VII, Newington Green, London, 2017 Gelatin silver print 80 x 56.5cm NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale; purchased with funds provided by Michael and Diane Bienes by exchange © Zanele Muholi. Courtesy of Stevenson, Cape Town/ Johannesburg and Yancey Richardson, New York
halfpage_RemembertoReact_04.indd 1
Reaction Time
Remember to React: 60 Years of Collecting is the first comprehensive installation of NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale’s collection. Presented on the occasion of the institution’s 60th anniversary, this exhibition will occupy the Museum’s more than 28,000 squarefeet of galleries and will open to the public through June 30, 2019.
Representing various periods
contemporary life and call for
of art, Remember to React also
word “react” to prompt viewers
and developments in the history traces the collection’s growth from its origins to today.
The exhibition takes its title
from a recent acquisition to the collection of conceptual artist
Jenny Holzer‘s 1984 Survival Series, a simple plaque embossed with the text “Remember to
React.” Both a commentary on
12
SUGARCANE MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER 2018 |
Historic Ali Cultural Arts 353 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard INAUGURAL Issue Pompano Beach, FL 33060 | www.aliarts.org
10/10/18 9:53 AM
60th Anniversary presented by
participation, Holzer uses the into action.
The Museum’s collection will be installed as an interlocking narrative. It will include an exten-
sive installation of the Museum’s
Photograph by Zanele Muholi from the Somnyama Ngonyama series
Kahlo, Jose Clemente Orozco, Diego Rivera.
traditional African art, and will
NSU Art Museum is located at
the works by artists of the Mexi-
Fort Lauderdale. For additional
begin with a gallery devoted to
can Revolution – including Frida
One East Las Olas Boulevard in information, call 954-525-5500.
#weareblackculture | SUGARCANEMAG.com
13
a r o p s a i D s e Not
NYORH AGWE BY: Angela N. Carroll
Compelling Introduction required in this spot to contextualize the story.
Black women’s aesthetics transcend accepted beauty standards. We slay despite histories of omission and egregious misrepresentation. Black humanity exists as a continuum of creative genius. The way we wear our hair, the size of our accessories, the vibrant patina of our clothing are all stark statements, confident punctuations that elicit a confidence and defiant persistence to push forward in the face of vehement oppressions.
Nyorh Agwe, Cameroonian-American founder of the luxury lifestyle brand named “Nyorh Agwe,” ap-
proaches fashion with a strategic tenaciousness and
effervescent excitement that is impossible to ignore. Agwe strives to make its wearers feel beautiful, comfortable, and above all else, ecstatically adorned. Her latest collection, CHWAY, roughly translated as “to show” or “to teach”,
blends sculptural, asymmetrical draping and thick knitted textiles with lush embellishments to create flowy, hyper-
feminine garments that will elevate any woman’s wardrobe. Agwe and I spoke briefly over the phone about all things
fashion, experiences that have had a lasting impression on her aesthetic, and her hopes for the sustainability of traditional Cameroonian artistry.
Chway Collection 2017 | Photographer Nyorh Agwe | Model Aly Ndiaye | Stylist Jennifer Nnamani
some reason gave me that kind
I got into Parsons, the school
[laughs] There’s a lot said in
could not.
shot, [and] ended up in New
raised there, and don’t really
of communication that words
I saw Project Runway, the first
or second season it aired, and
I didn’t realize that fashion was a career choice. I was yearning
to show people myself without having to use too many words, and fashion allowed me to
do that. So when I saw it as a
career path I was very excited.
who I was through what I wore. That idea of wearing what you feel inside, that’s what I love
about fashion. That’s why I got into it.
AC: How has your Cameroo-
but grew up in Italy. When I
speaking, class and traditional class [art] is something you
was 4 [I] came back to Cam-
would do in your pastime. So I would crochet something
eroon for a while but was in
or my mom made jewelry. I didn’t even think about it until I
private school, so there was
was older and started to get into arts in high school and a
already a disconnect between
lot of it was sort of more so because my family and I moved
myself and other Cameroo-
around a lot. Coming to America at six and moving from
nians. When I came to America
place to place, and wanting to fit in, I would morph into other
SUGARCANE MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER 2018 | INAUGURAL Issue
ing, I was able to communicate
NA: I was born in Cameroon
Ever since I was young I had an arts background. Culturally
14
of [myself]. Instead of just cloth-
brand?
Nyorh Agwe (NA): Thank you. Fashion merged in later on.
identify how I was feeling or who I was, but art, for
dig into fashion as an extension
a creative and the Nyorh Agwe
inspired you to pursue fashion?
people’s ideas about what was acceptable. It was difficult to
York. Parsons allowed me to
nian heritage influenced you as
Angela Carroll (AC): Nyorh Agwe is a beautiful brand. What
Chway Collection 2017 | Photographer Nyorh Agwe Model Aly Ndiaye | Stylist Jennifer Nnamani
where Project Runway was
that was a consistent question. Chway Collection 2017 | Model Fei Mancho Hair and Makeup: Enih Agwe
Aunts and Uncles would ask
me, “Do you even eat fufu?”
that question, because I wasn’t eat fufu, and other people were trying to tell you that though
you are Cameroonian, you are not really Cameroonian. The
first time we went back to Cameroon after being in American I was 13, and it was the same
thing, people always trying to
question my Cameroonianess, You know? Because we lived in America. No doubt, I was
definitely raised in America and
have been influenced by American culture, and you could go
so far as to say I am American, but I am also Cameroonian.
That backstory has always been what has pushed me creatively. Exploring the Cameroonian
side that I don’t know, it helps
me to know more about myself. It connects me to what I know as home. That story is very
interesting and it connects with a lot of people who also share that story of being a global
#weareblackculture | SUGARCANEMAG.com
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We are all connected
to one another. In our culture, as Africans, and I would say for my culture as a Cameroonian, hospitality is luxury. – NYORH AFWE
there. These are beautiful tech-
that the artists I have worked
[laughs] You are supposed to
There is a lot of experimenta-
no one has been hurt, but no
it in all the time, and talk this
niques, but they are super old. tion that is needed for us to
make that goal of creating that
bridge, because we can’t allow
these cultural arts and crafts to die. How can we develop them
citizen, or a first generation
anew so that they stand today?
immigrant.
AC: Talk about some of the sus-
AC: Any plans to continue your
is exploring.
Journal, which features footage
Youtube series, The Process
tainable practices Nyorh Agwe
nian techniques, I fall more in
love with the traditional ones.
one can leave their homes. You cannot ship things there. The government turns on and off
phone lines as they please. The internet whenever they please. It has become very difficult, I
do not know when we will be able to visit our families back home.
from your travels through Cam-
AC: What do you want people
artisans?
to experience?
eroon meeting with traditional
NA: As I’m exploring Cameroo-
with in past collections are fine,
wearing the Nyorh Agwe brand
I’m in love with this idea of
NA: What’s going on right now
NA: I want them to experience,
if we weren’t so obsessed with
the brink of war. It has been es-
because a lot of the guests
unfortunately [Cameroon] is on
what would Cameroon be like
calating for about three years.
the West, if this or that did not
Otherwise by now you would
happen, what would Cameroon
have seen more videos but
be like? Not to make a fantasy
there is war in both regions,
world, because I believe that
literal fighting. I am grateful
Cameroon is an amazing coun-
try that has so much raw talent,
a space of love. I am grateful
look cute and hold it in, suck
way. I want people to come and realize that this is how fellow-
ship is supposed to be. We are all connected to one another.
In our culture, as Africans, and I would say for my culture as
a Cameroonian, hospitality is
luxury. Taking those attributes from my culture and putting it
into the atmosphere, and how the wearer feels. Past clients
have told me they feel beautiful, right, bold. All those feelings connect, and come back
to how you interact with other people.
at the pop up shop, everyone is laughing, dancing, having
conversation, trying on clothes. When you go to other luxury
fashion events it is not like that.
but we just need to get it
together. As an example, there used to be lots of natural dye-
ing techniques that were swept away, almost extinct because of artificial dyes that came
from the West. A traditional dyer was a profession. That
was there actual job that was
passed down from generation to generation. So when [syn-
thetic dyes] come in, and be-
cause [traditional dyeing] was
passed on from generation to
generation, now anyone can do
the generation before because
Those processes just say so
pes that maybe your grandfa-
ing to [artificial dyes] because
people. My goal is to transition,
it. The dyeing, those are reci-
ther died with. But an artificial dye, anyone can mix-up and
anyone can have the business.
Now its super competitive and traditional dyeing techniques are dying out, or dying with
16
Chway Collection 2017 | Photographer Nyorh Agwe | Model AV Wayans | Stylist Nyorh Agwe
younger generations are mov-
they are faster, brighter colors, more attractive, more acces-
sible. Moving out of the village and into cities, and away from
traditional jobs all contributes.
SUGARCANE MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER 2018 | INAUGURAL Issue
Chway Collection 2017 | Photographer Nyorh Agwe Models Aly Ndiaye & AV Wayans | Stylist Jennifer Nnamani
much about who we are as
because one dies because the other comes and replaces it,
instead of modifying the old ways and making it in a way
that can compete with artifi-
cial dyes. That transition is not
Chway Collection 2017 | Photographer: Myesha Garner | Model: Angelique Lauren | Stylist: Londyn Douglas | Hair & Makeup: Elyssa Marie
#weareblackculture | SUGARCANEMAG.com
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a r o p s a i D s e t o N
WALLER GALLERY
In 2017, curator Joy Davis opened Waller Gallery, a commercial art space developed to support POC artists in Baltimore City. Artists of color have historically been omitted from or underrepresented by local and global art canons. Those disparities are mirrored in the hiring practices of arts institutions that opt not to fill arts administrator positions with highly skilled professionals of color.
BY: Angela N. Carroll
Joy Davis and interviewee on Unravel Fashion Podcast
Though Baltimore City maintains a nearly 63% Black
population, Waller is one of three Black owned and operated commercial art galleries in the region. This stark
reality reifies the urgency and importance of supporting the creation and sustainability of more POC owned art centers. The multidisciplinary space has already exhibited a robust
collection of radical POC creatives, photographers, visual and performance artists. Many of the artists are young, emerging talents with limited exhibition histories. Waller’s latest show,
We Are Not Voiceless, a solo exhibition by Chilean-American artist, Joaquin Esteban Jutt, queries the viability of art as a platform for Black and LatinX political advocacy. Artworks
include stylized portraits of activists and citizens in the throes of civil disobedience. Earlier exhibitions displayed short films and photographs from interdisciplinary artist Nia Hampton
that highlighted some of the African cultural traditions that persist across Latin America. Joy and I discussed her plans
for the gallery, inspirational collaborations, and her hopes for fostering more sustainable art spaces in Baltimore.
Angela N. Carroll (AC): Waller Gallery is one of the few
Black owned galleries in Baltimore. Why was it important for you to launch Waller Gallery in Baltimore?
Joy Davis (JD): This is where I feel at home and where I
know there is copious amount of Black talent and the gallery is a platform and outlet for that talent. It is also important to play a supportive role in other organizations that have
18
SUGARCANE MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER 2018 | INAUGURAL Issue
continually done work in the city for years.
AC: Museums and galleries
rarely have conversations with
everyone involved but I think it
and my mind about how the
handlers, and people. It was a
could blend together.
made us stronger curators, art big undertaking.
contemporary and historical
I joined the Unravel Podcast
each other about sustainabil-
During Strength In Practice we
team as a co-host while in New
or the artists they feature.
artist talk entitled “Art Prac-
around untold fashion/history
ity, community programming, You have made an effort to
work with a wide range of arts
organizations to create dynamic programming and exhibitions. Discuss some of the projects/ exhibitions you developed in collaboration with local arts institutions/collectives.
JD: Our first show with Nia
had the pleasure of holding an tice as Art Therapy” featuring
artists Qieer Wang and Amelia
Eldridge as well as Art Therapist Kathy Goucher. Our third show
was the second time we worked
with FORCE on a listening circle. It was the first time we gave the space to an organization, which was a big step for us.
Hampton saw the artist, at the
AC: You are from Maryland but
scholars and artists of color for
ferent mediums and curatorial
gallery’ request, pull together an amazing panel about the African Diaspora.
Strength In Practice in and of
itself was a huge collaboration
between Waller Gallery, Gallery CA, and The Gallery Network
(BOPA). It stretched the limits of
York. We continue to do work
narratives. The fans of our show, who we call fashion nerds, and my co-hosts, Jasmine Helm
Chavez and Dana Goodin, really empower me to use the knowledge I have. Jasmine, Dana,
and I are so supportive of each
other. That is a rewarding experience and helped to inform the mission of the gallery.
spent a few years exploring dif-
Working with Devin N. Morris
projects in NY. Share some of
was pivotal because I could use
the inspiring collaborations or projects you worked on. JD: I worked on a Yinka
on the Brown Paper Zine Fair my skills and grow my confidence in programming.
Shonibare show at the historic
AC: Can you share more about
Manhattan. It changed my life
how your interest in fashion
house Morris Jumel Mansion in
the Unravel podcast, and
#weareblackculture | SUGARCANEMAG.com
19
19
Fashion is a conundrum.
It is always in the past and, if done well, in the future. In that way fashion and traditional art are not different from each other.
2018-2019 Jazz Concert Series
– JOY DAVIS
is reflected in your work with contemporary artists?
January 9, 2019 Paquito D’Rivera & The Shelly Berg Trio
JD: Unravel Podcast and my
friends I share a microphone
with have helped me grow as a scholar and patron of the arts.
The project started when both
of them came to me separately
Nov. 14, 2018 South Florida Jazz Orchestra with Antonio Adolfo
wanting to start a fashion his-
tory podcast. At the time, I was burnt out from grad school so
I told them to join forces. They followed through and cre-
ated the foundation for what
“The band swings with pulsating energy” Edward Blanco, All About Jazz/ WDNA FM
the podcast is today. I joined
about eight months later. We all wanted to use our fashion
February 13, 2019 Svetlana & The Delancey Five with Special Guest Wycliffe Gordon Wonderful World of Ella and Louis
March 13, 2019 Five Play
history and museum studies
degrees beyond a symposium or rare lecture. And we have
Swinging into Spring
met that goal.
My interest in fashion is not so much informed by the artists I
April 10, 2019 Carol Welsman Trio
work with but rather this: fash-
ion is art. And somehow that is still a controversial statement. Fashion is a conundrum. It is
always in the past and, if done well, in the future. In that way
fashion and traditional art are
not different from each other.
and freed enslaved people. The
wallergallery@gmail.com to be
which there are new and old
and art are endless.
for our monthly newsletter that
I see a Pyer Moss collection in ideas merging on the body and
connections between fashion
the backdrop is of Weeksville
AC: How can artists and collec-
light up. Weeksville is a histori-
exhibitions at Waller Gallery?
Heritage Center and my eyes cally African American- small
community created by freeman
20 20
Waller Gallery Director Joy Davis
tors learn more about future
JD: Please contact us at
SUGARCANE MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER 2018 | INAUGURAL Issue
sent a price list and to sign up discusses all of our program-
ming and artwork for sale. While we focus on programming that is a way to engage and have
more people in the space that wouldn’t otherwise engage.
Dec. 5, 2018 Jason Marsalis and The 21st Century Trad Band
An NEA Jazz Master, Marsalis “stands as a first-rate musician-bandleader in his own right.” Howard Reich Chicago Tribute
An Evening of Jazz Vocals and Piano
May 3, 2019 Tamir Hendelman Trio
Playgrounds and Destinations
All concerts begin at 7:45pm and occur at the Amaturo Theater/Broward Center for the Performing Arts.
www.browardcenter.org | www.goldcoastjazz.org | 954-462-0222 #weareblackculture | SUGARCANEMAG.com
21
advertorial | Museum of Black Civilizations of Dakar
African civilizations have had and
World is an epiphenomenon.
history within the Euro-American
With the breathlessness of a
canonically illiterate discourses
rehashes old gestures without re-
still have a long and checkered
discourses; from David Hume’s
Some curatorial articulations
on Africa, to Kant’s claim in“ the Feeling of the beautiful;” the
“anxiety” of Sigmund Freud’s
by: Babacar M’Bow
feeling of “dread and horror,”
to Donald Trump’s “shitholes”
and the bankruptcy of European of connection that can make a
unity of two different elements, under certain conditions.i Hall’s point is that articulation is a
linkage which is not necessarily, determined, absolute and es-
sential for all time and that the
unity which matters is a linkage
between articulated discourses
Views of the Museum of African Civilization of Dakar, Senegal
and the social forces with which
This exciting exhibition, African Civilizations: Continuous Creation of Humanity, organized for the inauguration of the Museum of Black Civilizations of Dakar, is a conjuncture with its own historical specificity. It occurs at the sort of moment in which Senegal opens a Museum dedicated to Black Civilizations. It asks how
African Civilizations: Continu-
1966 Black World Festival of
inaugural exhibition is then a
congresses of Black writers
and artists of Paris, 1956 and
Rome, 1959; the wave of African independences in the 1960 and
later wars of liberation up to the
1990s. All these also echoed the Pan-African conferences of London 1900, the congresses of Paris,1919, Dar es Sa-
laam,1974, Kampala, 1994 and Accra, 2014.
22
Seen in this perspective, African Civilizations: Continuous
a practice to an effect, African
The Museum of Black Civiliza-
Dakar, itself preceded by the
be connected.
Creation of Humanity is linking
different or similar this is from other moments.
tions (MCN) was born from the
it can, under certain conditions
ous Creation of Humanity, the combination of similarities and differences sketching a frame-
work within which to grasp the
articulations at work in the long journey of Africa’s creation of humanity from the Australo-
pithecus to the Homo sapiens
sapiens. In her essay ‘The theo-
ry and method of articulation in cultural studies’, Jennifer Daryl
Slack quoted Stuart Hall’s defi-
nition of articulation as the form
SUGARCANE MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER 2018 | INAUGURAL Issue
productions to meanings; these meanings to a reality and to a politics which emerges from
that experience. It is about a production of an expression which rises on top of differ-
ences articulating Africa – the
cradle of humanity as not only a place of birth and departure for humanity but also a theoretical
conjuncture that moves beyond flattened unicentric historical
meanings to offer new analyses in which anticipated outcomes give way to new information.
contemporary discourses and practices on Africa.
African Civilizations: Continuous Creation of Humanity is then a
mechanism; connecting dissimilar features into an articulated com-
“contemporary” which only
alizing that they have lost all their subversive charge, “Now Africa” provides a way for demonstrating constructions of memory,
conceptually based upon contin-
gency, and bricolage engendered visually in the present through a politics of re-presentation and re-imagination. Nkiru Nzegwu
suggests that experiences make up history and history is constituted by memories.
bination of a unity of discourse.
By these means, “Now Africa”
the continent’s shores, allowing
ty in contemporary art and invites
These features extend beyond
re-articulating in different ways,
still centering Africa – the” unity” as linkage between the articulated discourse and the social
forces with which it enters in both the historical and contemporary conditions.
The Mahafa (enslavement of Africans) via the Sahara, the Atlantic and Indian oceans gave rise to
African Diaspora civilizations. Tidiane NDiaye speaks of thirteenth centuries without interruption of Arabs raids on the continent, ar-
guing that the Arab and oriental
slave trades were more devastating for African peoples than the
transatlantic slave trade because
of the systematic castration of Africans the Arabs instituted which
breaks the shackles of unicentricito a departure from ontology to
practices beyond the legitimizing academic structures; challenging their limits once again. Here, it is about a conceptual scheme Syl-
vester Ogbechie defines as Ikwa Nka, a process of embodiment in which the creative persona
operates as a conduit channeling
unpredictable amounts of energy from the realm of the supernatural into the realm of the living. “Now Africa” takes the pulse
of the continent in this cycle of
of Humanity” poses finds echo in the denunciation of the falsity of an intellectual hegemony which sees itself as the ideal of the
twenty-first century. This inaugural exhibition re-centers formal
elements ---- sources of influence, innovation and formulations to
make them distinct traits that lo-
cate the discourse at the cultural,
artistic, social and aesthetic levels in a network of significations that
allow us to re/present African civilizations beyond the slogans “afro pessimism” “afro-optimism” as
they transcend common aesthetic limitations inherent in these.
change accounting for the forces at play, creating and envisioning
new realities and re/placing visual expression to its rightful place as a medium of social and personal transformation.
annihilated any possibility for
The challenge to the limit of
the African presence in the Arab
Civilizations: Continuous Creation
reproduction. This explains that
Views of the Museum of African Civilization of Dakar, Senegal
Learn more about the Museum of African Civilization of Dakar: Email: mcn@mcn.sn Website: www.mcn.sn Telephone: +221 33 959 19 21
unicentric discourses “African
#weareblackculture | SUGARCANEMAG.com
23
FEATURE | ebony g. patterson
There is a melody that hovers over the universe at
activist, Mahalia Jackson. It is a hymn of prayer and
and bids farewell to the previous night. Dawn is a
dawn and highlights the ephemeral nature of dew.
dawn. It is a soft whisper that ushers in the new day
fleeting moment, a temporal atmospheric shift, an in between space that is neither night or day, light or dark.
“…. while the dew is still on the roses...” the
latest exhibition from contemporary artist Ebony G. Patterson, ponders the mystery of twilight, within a
site specific installation for the Perez Art Museum Mi-
ami (PAMM). “…. while the dew is still on the roses...”
devotion that references the beauty of a garden at
memory that straddle lines between nostalgia and surreal dreams.
For Patterson, the dew evokes twilight and, more
Patterson’s prolific image making is created from
temporary vanitas lamentation. “What I like about the
tural, collage like forms. Patterson’s practice is also
metaphorically, the idea of fleeting youth as a con-
title ‘…while the dew is still on the roses…” is that it suggests that there is still a chance, there is a possibility for something more, a chance for change. It’s
fleeting, but in many ways, it feels like a window of
various mediums that are often executed in sculpin dialogue with the work of Kehinde Wiley and Kerry James Marshall, painters that situate the black figure in flora filled spaces while aggrandizing scenes in the
large scale of canonical history paintings. Within Pat-
tion. Ostrander further explains, “In many ways her
work is celebrating the beauty of young lives that are
being lost–celebrating, but also very much giving dignity, visibility, and honor through her use of layering
floral patterns, glitter, and embellishments.” Through her use of ornamentation, and monumental scale, Pat-
terson attempts to elevate Black figures by shrouding
them in regality, and deifying the dead as saints and martyrs to counter the violence of invisibility.
In the Garden Alone with Ebony G. Patterson BY: Daniel Dunson
Ebony G. Patterson | Detail
is a thematic survey spanning ten years that combines
hope– a window of hope through something that is
garden created by the artist.
to also ask itself about where it sits regarding these
past and recent works from Patterson, manifest in a
The title of the exhibition is a line extracted from the hymn, I Come to the Garden Alone, a gospel song
written by American songwriter C. Austin Miles in 1920. The song became popularized within the Black church throughout the 20th century, and it was recorded by legendary gospel singer and civil rights
24
also tragic. Something that I am asking the audience
“. . . . a wailing black horse . . . for those who bear/bare witness | 2018
terson’s practice, one work leads to another in a very deep formal aesthetic analysis that is also conceptual.
tragedies, these experiences,” Patterson explains. In
All of Ebony’s work has been connected to questions
of memory within itself. It is often sung during vari-
global context. “Her works are both expressions of
the Garden, as the hymn is also called, is a container
ous Protestant church services including funerals, and
triggers nostalgia for many people of the African Diaspora who were brought up in the church. We can
view all of Patterson’s compositions as containers of
SUGARCANE MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER 2018 | INAUGURAL Issue
of violence against the Black and Brown body in a outrage and lament,” explains Tobias Ostrander, chief
curator of PAMM. “…. while the dew is still on the ros-
es...” interrogates the tension between outrage and lament in order to trouble methods of memorializa-
Ebony G. Patterson | Detail
After the death of her father in 2010, Patterson start-
ed dealing with concepts of erasure in her work. In her mixed media tapestries, decadent clothing appears absent from the body, playing with Patterson’s interest of how the work’s audience might make assumptions and projections of the bodies that would actually wear the garments. The artist is also interested in
other ways that she could continue to push the bodies further into the landscape. While figures are in the landscape, they are also a part of the landscape and #weareblackculture | SUGARCANEMAG.com
25
FEATURE | ebony g. patterson
consumed by the landscape. The layers of embroidery,
purple/indigo colored background with a repeated
photographs of people who were murdered or killed
visiting the grave of a loved one.
ures represented causing them to recede deeper into
minding us of life’s beauty and death’s inevitability.
solo exhibition for the Museum of Arts and Design,
In the installation Stars, (2018), hundreds of women’s
gating the culture of social media and how images
ceiling by shoelaces in a cloud-like form. The hanging
glass, glitter, silk, and found objects takeover the figthe composition. There are times when the seemingly
random fragments are brought to the fore– an arm, a hand, shoe, a glove often come to the surface, as well
as other life forms such birds and insects. All these at-
tributes imbue Patterson’s work with a haunting aura, an energy that causes the distance between the work and the viewer to shorten and eventually collapse. I
photographic wilted floral motif simultaneously re-
Silk florals and foliage are installed on the walls and around the work promoting both a sense of seduc-
tion and danger. Within the garden there are grave plots, videos, music, and decadent faux flowers, causing viewers to slow down their movement throughout the installation and reflect on the intricate details.
Patterson’s work is not meant to be viewed quickly.
New York, New York. Lately, she has been interro-
of people of color are deployed within the media at large. “It is a violent act to photograph the person
whose body has been desecrated, then share that im-
age (via social media) and comment on it,” explains Patterson. “We become culpable participators in an
act that re-violates the body. So then, what does it
In …bearing witness…, (2017) Patterson evaluates
of young lives that are
acting violence upon people who are in the middle of
these tragedies is also important to the artist as she has observed racist and classist stereotypes promoted
in the fore, while unifying examples of humanity, in its most relatables forms, recede the background. Patterson intervenes with the media’s traditional tropes
of moving and still images that focus on the aesthetic
qualities, rather than the human condition by creating
her use of layering
inescapable large scale pictorial environments.
floral patterns, glitter,
“With these more recent works the scales are even
and embellishments.”
cally plant the viewer inside the picture, in order to
larger. It was very important that I find a way to physiEbony G. Patterson | Detail
have stared long enough at Patterson’s work that not
It is impossible to rapidly scan her vast compositions
by the concepts that found it.
down the navigation of viewing, Patterson facilitates
twilight. Patterson designed a fabric wallpaper that
covers the walls of the entire exhibition. It has a deep
shoes become a stand in for Black bodies that have
The question of who is allowed to bear witness to
and honor through
the dramatic mystery of a lush overgrown garden at
morials for recently slain youth. The sparkling black
while having no control in how they are presented.
giving dignity, visibility,
The exhibition space is dimly lit and situates us within
territories. This icon is also employed to create me-
grappling with personal tragedy within public spaces,
but also very much
ies to embody the surreal nature of Patterson’s work.
throwing shoes over power lines to demarcate gang
how the functions of social media participates in reen-
being lost–celebrating,
Perez Museum of Art Miami transformed its galler-
shoes evoke a familiar feature in urban communities of
vulnerable state?”
is celebrating the beauty
only am I consumed by the imagery, I am consumed
shoes, covered in black glitter are suspended from the
mean to photograph mourners who are in their most
“In many ways her work
26
violently when she was creating Dead Treez (2015), a
without missing the import of the work. By slowing
a deeper conversation that transcends the beauty of her images.
Many of the recent images Patterson creates are
based on photographs of mourning loved ones and community members at sites of violent crimes. Pat-
terson began looking at these images in relation to
SUGARCANE MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER 2018 | INAUGURAL Issue
create a greater a sense of empathy,” says Patterson.
Floating earth mounds have been created for the piece, Moments We Cannot Bury (2018).
These
mounds are covered with silk flowers that are embedded with objects the artist made of glass: hands, feet,
shoes, hats. The objects are ghostly forms entwined in beds of silk flowers that are graves that take on island forms that viewers engage by walking around them.
Patterson’s work explodes conventional ideas of still
life, sculpture and performance by allowing viewers to
perform within the work, as if they were ritualistically
“. . . . found among the reeds-Dead Treez . . .” | 2015
transformed into black stars in a heavenly realm. The works exhibited at PAMM highlight Patterson’s
emblematic style of sumptuously placed ornamentation that realizes tactile tropes with an opulent grandeur that hovers the line between confrontation and
mourning. This gesture extends conversations concerning the visibility of marginalized people to include what Patterson calls the performativity of access.
“There’s always a critique about the way poor people #weareblackculture | SUGARCANEMAG.com
27
spend money,” Patterson explains. “But we exist in a
Patterson’s image making is an invitation to explore
so then having material value becomes about having
ten too difficult to put into words. The song, In the
society that places so much weight on material value, access.
There is a kind of performativity around having access. What I have is a knock off, and what you have
is the real thing. But who cares? I still have access!
That’s all I need! Just a moment to assert the idea that
her innermost thoughts about subjects that are ofGarden, is essentially about intimate communication.
Patterson invites us to communicate with her in the lush realms of her mind; a garden full of life, death, mourning, memory and the glittering chance of hope
and healing that is just as fleeting as the dew at dawn.
“. . . . they stood in a time of unknowing . . . for those who bear/bare witness” | 2018
I too have value, I too am important.”
*Ebony G. Patterson . . . while the dew is still on the
It is very clear to me that Ebony G. Patterson’s critical
Ostrander. This exhibition is presented by Christian
thinking is as dense and alluring as the garden she has created for this exhibition. Though the work calls
up thoughts of death, fleeting moments of youth, vio-
Louboutin with support from the International Women’s Forum.
lence, and the performativity of access, this exhibi-
Lead individual support received from Nedra and
The objects and fragments that Patterson uses are
Paresky, are gratefully acknowledged.
tion causes an awakening of Black cultural memory.
charged with meanings that come from a global-Black experience, that in a sense, unifies people who are often divided.
28
roses . . . is organized by PAMM Chief Curator Tobias
Mark Oren, and Linda Paresky in honor of Mark
Ebony G. Patterson’s work, “. . . while the dew is still on the roses . . .” is on view through May 5, 2019.
SUGARCANE MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER 2018 | INAUGURAL Issue
#weareblackculture | SUGARCANEMAG.com
29
FEATURE | MIKHAILE SOLOMON
before she gets into her car,
and ask what’s up, knowing the answer before she explains. “I really can’t stay; I have so
much to do,” she says, laughing before she rattles off a laundry
exploring
prizm
the world through a
list of tasks and to dos, chief
among them finding a space to
stage this year’s fair. I almost go cross-eyed trying to wrap my head around it all. She sighs,
then laughs again. “There’s just so much left to be done.”
The preoccupied mind, early
exits and endless errands are familiar to me. I founded an
Mikhaile Solomon by Jason Fitzroy Jeffers
annual event myself — in my
case, a Caribbean film festival
— and know the struggles and near-impossible demands of
Black entrepreneurship in South Florida. In fact, on more than
one occasion, when dealing with a difficult venue, an overdue
payment, or some other bullshit
Mikhaile Solomon at the Wynwood Walls, Miami.
I just don’t have time for, I often think of Mikhaile. The question:
It’s Monday evening
in the middle of a balmy Miami August
It’s not that she’s not having a good time
couple of us have gathered at the sur-
ately singing along with the other gals to
and Mikhaile Solomon is dancing. A
prise birthday party of a mutual friend in the Miami arts community, leading to an evening of ice cream cake, giggly group hugs, and dozens of sparklers held high
in the middle of the street. The vibes are high and right.
It’s not that deep into the evening, however, when I notice her looking off into the distance. She’s still dancing, mind
you, but her mind is dancing elsewhere.
30
“I wonder how she gets through it all?”
— mere minutes before, she was passion-
“Just the fact that I’m even able
Mary J’s “I’m Going Down” — but she’s
Solomon. “I didn’t think we’d be
cleary computing something underneath that crown-like afro of hers. Before long, she reaches for her bag, says her loving goodbyes, and heads for the door.
I’ve seen her make this kind of early exit before. As the founder of Prizm, the
annual Miami-based Afro-diasporic art
fair, she’s a busy woman who never has
an empty plate. I catch her outside, just
SUGARCANE MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER 2018 | INAUGURAL Issue
to do this is a blessing,” says
able to do it this long, but here
we are, and we’re going to keep on going.”
When Prizm popped up during the week of Art Basel Miami
Beach in 2012, it was a most wel-
come affair. Sure, there was work by Black artists at the big fairs
such as Scope, Pulse and Basel
Nyugen Smith, performance, Lest We Forget, Prizm Art Fair 2017
itself, but it felt like there was
little in the way of strong, Black curatorial. What’s more, the
afrofuturist bent made it stand
out. Here was something fresh. The idea for the fair came about on a whim really. A former
theater studies student pursuing
“I didn’t think we’d be able to do it this long, but here we are, and we’re going to keep on going.” – Mikhaile Solomon, PRIZM Art Fair
a career in architecture, Solo-
Afrofuturism, about what black
buying a piece of afrofuturist
future without it being defined
mon was far more interested in art than she was in staging a fair selling them. Her hunt for her
first purchase sparked the idea, and lead to a broader, more
personal view of Afrofuturism
that would become a guide for all that followed.
“I created our branding and
our identity around the idea of
identity can mean for us in the
by the social construct that we currently live in,” she says one night at dinner over a plate of octopus and roast potatoes. She’s a strict pescatarian, a
personal evolution that arose in an effort to streamline her life since Prizm took off.
“In my mind, it’s not necessarily
#weareblackculture | SUGARCANEMAG.com
31
FEATURE | MIKHAILE SOLOMON
Andre Leon Gray | “Somebody said you are from nowhere. Is that true?” | 80 x 90 x 17” | Mixed Media
just combining African ethnic-
adaptability and resilience of
ties in the minds of the viewer.
compared to the time that goes
everything… every last thing. I
people don’t expect me to be
see it; but for me, our bare
What remains consistent is a
Like the turmoil expressed and
however, that has provided its
accountant, so I had to teach
into a situation and have to put
cutting-edge visual artists from
the work, staging the fair every
ity with sci fi, as most people
minimum freedom in it’s pur-
est form is Afrofuturism to me
because historically we haven’t had the kind of carte blanche to do whatever the fuck we
want to do without having to
worry about societal pressures
telling us to do A, B, or C,” says Solomon, apologizing for her sailor’s mouth. She says it’s a
Black folk in the New World.
tremendous amount of work by
all around the African diaspora. From the reimagined historical portraiture of Jamaican artist
Renee Cox to the mind-warp-
ing collage and painting work
of Amber Robles-Gordon, the
festival presents Afro-Diasporic visions that contort our col-
habit.
lective agonies and joys into
Every year, the fair moves
past oppression. The sheer
to a different venue, almost reflective of the constant
32
Mikhaile Solomon at the Wynwood Walls, Miami.
visions beyond our current and mass of Black expression itself inspires, and unlocks possibili-
SUGARCANE MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER 2018 | INAUGURAL Issue
soldiered through in much of
year is quite a challenge. From
into it. To hear Mikhaile tell it,
share of blessings, despite the
neverending challenge of it all.
its inception until fairly recently,
“People who have money don’t
show behind the scenes, with
ary because they can just pay
Prizm has been a one-woman
Solomon handling everything
herself: graphic design, copywriting, webbuilding, travel,
shipping arrangements, pro-
gramming and of course, sales. On top of all that, there has
also been the task of fundrais-
ing, a year-round effort that often yields little reward, at least
really do anything revolutionfor everything,” she points
out. “When you are forced to
realized that I couldn’t pay an
myself financial management. I
had to teach myself how to get sponsors. I had no clue how to actually maneuver that space.
When you have a passion project you figure out how to do things.”
think about your bottom line
With that hustle came evolu-
what unlocks a certain kind
that wasn’t a part of her life
all the time, the limitations is
of creativity. A lack of money is what made me have to do everything by myself. So I
had to learn my way through
tion, a toughness of character pre-Prizm.
“I’m a ball buster. Not in a bad way. I’m quietly strong and
as assertive as I am until I get
my foot down. Before I started working on Prizm I was like a
little butterfly, a Tinkerbell. But working on this has made me
so laser focused about things
in ways that I never was,” says Solomon. “There were times
where I’ve had to defend what
I want against things and external factors that were becoming
a hindrance and I’ve never seen that side of me before. I was like “whoa, whoa!” It’s good and it’s bad because I’m not
used to being that way, it’s not
#weareblackculture | SUGARCANEMAG.com
33
FEATURE | MIKHAILE SOLOMON
my default, but I realized that
a phyrric victory. By the time
As she looks towards the future
if you’re not really writing, then
ed out there, but because so
speak several languages. I think
be afraid to use as well if it’s
defeated by it all. The remedy?
exhibits, Mikhaile is drawing
same kind of credibility I think
been built for this.
can only speak English. I think
it’s a quality that I have to not going to help me grow as a
professional and fuel the longterm vision for the art.”
it was all over she felt almost
A winter trip to South Africa and a renewed focus on self care.
“Last year I realized I was break-
Of course, this evolved, more
ing down. I was just tired, and
Mikhaile so to speak — has
in my life,” says Mikhaile. “I had
effective stance — the new
brought on its own issues. As a Black woman curator, her defiance against unaccept-
able processes and prejudices, there’s a level of bullshit that
she has to deal with that no-one
informed by the work she
up plans for Prizm’s place in
it. With that comes a new skill she wants to try her hand at: writing.
I’d never been that kind of tired
“I really want to start writing
to recognize that all I truly have
you want to change perspec-
control over is my body and my spirit. I had to come to terms
with that and I try to take very good care of myself now.”
you don’t necessarily have the you should have. What we’re
who can keep up,” she says
Those worldly visions extend to
trouble with that, you know? I
happy home and carving out
start flexing a lot more.”
as she is, it’s been difficult to
of things: for someone as busy find someone to share the journey with, not because there’s
no-one interesting or interest-
because I haven’t met anybody laughing, wistfully. “I’ve had
mean, it’s even difficult with a partner who’s just as aggres-
sive and ambitious as you are,
because sometimes it’s difficult for your schedules to sync.
I do realize I might need to be
a bit flexible, compromise a bit,
else would be asked to. For her,
but even when I meet the right
it comes with the territory, and
person I imagine they’re going
she’s up to the challenge.
to have to drag me kicking and
As Prizm closes in on its sixth
screaming into it. I do want to
edition this winter, she’s taking a slightly different approach
almost be the fair that did her
can make its presence felt in
the cities and countries of the African diaspora from which
it showcases work. Prizm has brought Afrofuturist visions
from the world over to Miami;
now Solomon says, it’s time to bring the fair and the vision to where the work originates.
“I want Miami to be the home,
If I have children, this little
sucker is going to know what
it’s like to grow up in Bulgaria. I want my children to be very
worldly. I want my children to
cities globally,” says Mikhaile.
where we’re physically based, but I would love for Prizm to
be in different cities. That’s the
longterm vision. There’s a lot to be done to get there, but that’s the longterm vision I’m working towards.”
PRIZM is a multidisciplinary cutting-edge cultural platform exhibiting international artists from the African Diaspora and emerging markets. Prizm Art Fair 2018 December 3rd - December 9th Open Daily: 10am - 6pm info@prizmartfair.com
– Mikhaile Solomon, PRIZM Art Fair
Artwork from Prizm Art Fair, 2017 SUGARCANE MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER 2018 | INAUGURAL Issue
also has the hope that Prizm
a place financially where I can
ing here. We’re all going there.’
“People who have money don’t really do anything revolutionary because they can just pay for everything... when you are forced to think about your bottom line all the time, the limitations is what unlocks a certain kind of creativity.
a space for writing, Solomon
“I want Prizm to be in several
just be like, ‘Okay, we’re all go-
in. It was successful, but it was
her first child too. Beyond the
have a family though, and part of that is being able to be in
however. Last year proved to
34
completely elitist.”
that’s a muscle that I have to
tives in the culture space, you
have to add to the dialogue. So
it’s completely classist and
“Dating has been tricky for me
something important. So I think
There’s also the personal side
musings and thoughts are. You
it’s shit that most Americans
trying to establish with Prizm is
more,” says Mikhaile. “I think if
have to write whatever your
far, her potential suitors haven’t
Andre Leon Gray | “Great Expectations (get free)” | 46 x 56 x 7” | Mixed Media
#weareblackculture | SUGARCANEMAG.com
35
FEATURE | sienna shields
Over the years, members of the African Dias-
The primary element that she uses to commu-
original homeland, identity, and the larger flow
course of her artistic career, beads have existed
pora have lost mementos that anchor us to our
of time. Much of our culture has been driven by that loss, and replacing it is largely the pur-
pose as well as the source of our continued life force. Sienna Shields, director of the 2014 film
“AncestraL entanglements and connection”
nicate her larger message is the bead. Over the in tandem with other mediums to explore the meaning of land and possession. Their sig-
nificance to her practice lies in their original
purpose of currency and heirlooms in Africa vs. their perceived value today. When asked what beads could be worth, she states: “Yes, that’s
a question that gets asked over and over again really. [Our beads] are the same thing they’ve always been—money over human happiness
and welfare. Arbitrary values placed on labor
and land and humans that are disadvantaged,
more often than not. Prayers of remembrance and prayers of meditation. Strands of mol-
ecules and DNA that aren’t being affected by
radiation, pollution, GMOs. Ancestral entanglements and connection. John Carlos [activist
and athlete from 1968 Olympics] says [in his autobiography The John Carlos Story: The Sports Moment that Changed the World], ‘I fingered my beads and thought about the pictures of the ‘strange fruit’ swinging from the poplar
trees of the South.” Beads as memory markers and protection. Beads as prophecy.”
For the native cultures of the Americas and West Africa, beads symbolized a depth of
memory and value that Western culture has
frequently scoffed at. Shields, in this case, uses her beads as prophecy and as warning: what
Sienna Shields BY: Lyric Prince
passes as beads to America right now-- money, possessions, white supremacy-- may not have
the same depth of meaning or durability of the ancestral ties treasured in West African or Native cultures. Sienna Shields, filmmaker and visual artist, doesn’t show up in many of Google’s search results, having lived most of her life pre-digital and underground. There are web pages related to her 34-part film-poem, GoodStock on the Dimension Floor: An Opera (2014), a few references to her involvement with the YAMS Collective along with their withdrawal from the 2014 Whitney
Artwork by Sienna Shields
36
Biennial, and tabloidesque mentions of her personal life.
SUGARCANE MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER 2018 | INAUGURAL Issue
Artwork by Sienna Shields
GoodStock On The Dimension Floor: an Opera, has used her historical research in Black liberation movements and innate understanding of
aesthetics to recall lost stories, using elements designated for remembrance.
For the past several years, Shields has worked
on a way of healing some of these broken links to the past. She weaves her iconic beaded
sculptures in and around a place, creating a
bundle of energy and pathways to an emerg-
ing, metaphorical landmass. Shields turns
GoodStock’s non-linear narrative on its head #weareblackculture | SUGARCANEMAG.com
37
through the swirling lines of beads she loops through
environment. Such an effect is neatly complemented
branches from a nucleus to create a super-sized cell.
within different color groups, only millimeters wide.
These masses visually translate emotions and wavelengths of light. The subtle gradations of color and
texture lead the eye and mind into a new discovery takes the dimensions of time, space and movement to fully appreciate.
The beads work themselves through GoodStock’s
melanated bodies and barren landscapes, stretching out ancestral ties through a large-scale tangled rep-
resentation of DNA, of links yet unbroken. Together, they support the main character and its incarnations
iv
l e
and transition through incremental handwork that
by the micro level interactions of each individual bead
D
the center of gravity, expanding and creating new
ife te l e m n i p
of Nave, Land and Perpetuus. Shields as director and Dawn Lundy Martin as writer have both made pains
Shields documents the finished
and unfinished pieces a through photography and films such as
GoodStock, where she reintroduces
her characteristic interplay between finite time and place, the rhythmic progression of bead and space.
The overall effect is like a synthesis between land and flights of fancy,
deliberate bead placement terraforming various environments through art.
Shields took pains to describe the different forms of beads and their placement within the film: “[T]he
sculptures which are used for sets and mask/costumes—some are
[made with] small seed beads [and] some are q-tips with the ends cut off (who has an ear, let him hear).
But they are all mainly hair beads— knockers, pony beads and curlers.
Artwork by Sienna Shields
FunnyHouse had a focus on hair. I use hair beads
to stress that, while the pronoun for the three incarna-
violence, colonialism, slavery, DNA and time.”
a plurality of identities, ages, and appearances. In a
which contain multiple meanings—reflection prayer
For viewers, the continuity of bead, texture and linear progression can soothe and inspire inner contemplation—seemingly endless fields of color within the
sculptures take over the eye and twists its surroundings, delicately binding color and space into a new kind of whole. There is transformation on a macro
level, one where the sculptures’ corporeality interacts
and disrupts viewers’ expectations of the surrounding
38
tions is ‘she,’ the character is genderless and occupies
way, the character, with her three parts of Nave, Land, and Perpetuus, resembles the cliched concept of the
stages of grief-- where it guarantees elevation of spirit and awareness (Perpetuus) through the suffering of
Land, and the anger of Nave. Each deals with the pain of Black trauma in their own way-- through mourning,
or outwardly attacking different elements within each scene, stand-ins to the agents of their oppression. In
one scene, Shields talks about how she harnesses the
SUGARCANE MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER 2018 | INAUGURAL Issue
discover yo u r g reatn ess
Empowering individuals to create a better life, attain success and unfold with principles and practices of truth. Join us sunday mornings: 11:30am 1351 Peri street, oPaLocka | divineLifetemPLe.org #weareblackculture | SUGARCANEMAG.com
39
FEATURE | sienna shields
I’ve been thinking about quantum time. Spooky action. Chronon... anyway, I feel like because our ancestors are not venerated, are unknown and/or our gods are demonized spooky action is putting [white people] at an advantage. – Sienna Shields, Photographer
tanglement], [because] I feel like living organisms have inherent tech, that civilization dulls and strips away.“
And does that mean we can travel and inhabit far-off
places with our minds as well as our bodies, irrespec-
tive of chronological progression? It appears so, and I
benevolent power of the mind. For Shields, retraining and regaining that ability to let our minds and spirits
fly is key to eventual mental and social liberation from oppressive political systems and socio-economic restrictions on the Black body.
can now see the connection to the “spooky,” quantum
The GoodStock actors sought to unify themselves
we use in everyday reality can affect how we perceive
character, going through the pain of alienation, death,
time and entanglement—control of the things that
ourselves, our histories, and our environments. Cur-
rently, that is under ‘yt’ control through economic and
social supremacy, but regaining our innate connection
under a single collective consciousness of the main
and disconnection. The final form, that hints to what passes for salvation in the film, is that of the demon-
ized body of Black woman- this is in marked contrast
“Cornsyrup” by Sienna Shields
emotional power of beads to make her be one with
choosing her own means of that happening. With t
der a mass of beads moving in the Perpetuus candle
of resurrection, where a new spring could occur.
the environment around her: “I secretly am a body unscene. But I was like an extra for myself, because I shot it alone. But I’m not visible, it’s just moving Beads. I’m
The phrase “spooky action” repeatedly came up in
they call to us/ From cataclysmic flash/And they WILL/
qualities, or an incorporeal spirit moving through the
only visibly Nave and Land... [From the libretto] When We will Say how beautiful/ Our emergence in Flame! /There the sea went/ There the edifice of offenses/
our discussions. At first, I thought it was about ghostly scenes, but Shields had a more nuanced interpretation:
Of lions, of defunct catacombs... I took the footage I
“I’ve been thinking about quantum time. Spooky
at the Academy of Rome, where the candles were
ancestors are not venerated, are unknown and/or our
had done of the candles [from a memorial of Galileo arranged as constellations] and then [I] hid myself in
bead sculptures and moved through the projection of
them. It’s my version of the invisible woman, [and] also spooky action at a distance. (Part 13, GoodStock on the Dimension Floor).”
Shields, in hiding her Black female body, is following
the exact prescription of the libretto; its opening text commands Perpetuus to be “untethered from the
action. Chronon...—anyway, I feel like because our
gods are demonized—spooky action is putting [white people] at an advantage. And thinking about this and
ways out of it is putting a smile on my face. If yts maintain a connection to their entangled ‘spooky’ parts it can give an advantage…while we have been cut off
from our ‘spooky’ parts…so the more we remember and do for ourselves without the yt liberal mediator, the better.”
history of the body on earth... [to] sing through di-
At this point, I put aside the allusion to quantum time
“QUEEN” by Sienna Shields
to any sense of linear time.” The candles, standing
said, technology. I know that many computerized
to the land, allowing the “spooky” ghosts within each
to FunnyHouse, where the Black female protagonist
so I conclude that maybe it’s possible that reclaiming
self-determination. At first, I likened it to disassocia-
Shields elaborates:
mensions, through universes, and [be] unconnected in for the immortality of the stars themselves, mirror the beads as a guide for lost spirits coming home, a light shining amid the endless night of outer space.
Her act of hiding her physical form is aligned with the reality of Black women being willfully submerged by outside forces, but with the added dimension of her
40
hat ability to appear at will comes an additional means
and focus on the more tangible parts of what she
objects are made from raw materials in African soil,
land in Africa could help us regain a connection to the spirit and energy that they contain. However, Shields dismisses this, saying: “I don’t think it’s necessary to have [technology] to delve into [spooky action/en-
SUGARCANE MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER 2018 | INAUGURAL Issue
one of us to fly free, is a crucial step in reclaiming our tion and displacement, two terms in psychology that
goes mad due to her lack of status in white society.
discuss how the mind and body can disconnect as a
“I don’t know [Adrienne Kennedy’s] work and her in-
came to understand that Shields describes it as a
what was totally in Dawn’s mind about all the
maladaptive coping strategy to external stress. I later
tentions to the level I would like to... I also don’t know
#weareblackculture | SUGARCANEMAG.com
41
FEATURE | sienna shields
characters, either. But I have
Whether that path leads directly
territory of Alaska. His objec-
Capitol guard patrol,] but got
nated individuals in our collective
mostly be embodied by melanin-
that decision is up to the indi-
state and escape the influence of
speech about racism and what
expression on film and anywhere
[decided] to have Perpetuus
rich individuals, and at the end
melanin-rich femmes. I feel the
only way a hyper ancestral rebirth can happen is when everyone
gets out of the way of melanin-
rich women, or femmes to think
about the feminine across gender constructs. The lyrics at the end speak of devastation but also
reemergence. What’s out there
to salvation, equality, or rebirth, vidual who sees or is affected
by the film. I don’t think that it
is the intention of Shields to say that one way is best; instead, I
gathered from our conversations that the result should invariably be to find a path to a better,
more equitable world, where
Black women could be judged on
tive was to establish a free Black Jim Crow, but the U.S. Government eventually denied him his right to do so. Dr. Thomas was
a man of his time who believed in a patriarchal ideal for this
new society, where Christianity and related mores would serve
to uplift the race from its “infe-
rior” origins. Shields revisits this
lucky. I made an impassioned
the scene was about to me and they let me go...That scene was
Ultimately, there is a great phrase
in DC, and some yt boy scouts
beginning of our conversations:
America. It was boy scout week were bullying a Black boy scout and I … told the guards that
they should be arresting the new Hitler youth, not me.”
I think James Baldwin
Anti-Black femme and colorism
was mostly talking
by the wayside.
of being and not
...I think James Baldwin was most-
subscribing to [sexual]
ly talking of being and not sub-
labels when he said,
scribing to [sexual] labels when
‘go the way your
he said, ‘go the way your blood
beats/flows,’ but anyway that line
blood beats/flows,’
tion where I feel the … inner flow.
has always been kind
but anyway that line
has always been kind of a medita[T]hat was what I was thinking
of a meditation where
in the last scene with Beatrice
I feel the… inner flow.
Anderson and Ashley Brocking-
– Sienna Shields, Photographer
ton [two more YAMS that acted
sate and let them lead. In these
fiery devastating roads of being, they need to go the way their
their individual merits to lead and positively influence others.
Shields and I talked a bit about
In other words, I feel that, be-
movements and the limitations
femme creators and those who support them, GoodStock is a
call to action, to help others find a way to fully embrace the pain of the past and move forward.
42
Artwork by Sienna Shields
blood beats.”
sides being a love letter to Black
“[songwriter] Saul Williams
said, ‘People! Let Pharaoh go!
‘...’Cause that’s really it. Pharaoh didn’t let the people go. The
people let go of pharaoh.” This anything, but rather embodies an
work for us when we leave that
their way, respect and compen-
that Sienna Shields said in the
doesn’t present a solution to
of spooky distance can only truly
everyone just needs to get out of
else.
about the fuckery of believing in
and in here along those fire roads
in Part 14 of the opera.] I feel like
redemption, seeking freedom of
her research in Black liberation
that they faced. She took special care to study the life of Dr. Joe Thomas, a Black doctor active
during the 1930s and 40s, and who attempted to establish a
homestead in the newly colonized
SUGARCANE MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER 2018 | INAUGURAL Issue
ideal frame of mind that leads to self-liberation.
The flow of life and time means that peace, as well as war, is a constant since they both are
by-products of change. Shields,
with her film, is careful to uplift all incarnations of her main char-
acter, to focus on their joys and sorrows, as opposed to indi-
rectly glorifying white supremacy
through bemoaning its existence. GoodStock, ultimately, squarely faces the beauty and terror of
the Black experience, the innate
transformative power of the Black conflict indirectly through several
body, and our ancestral ability to
scenes in the movie, particu-
This confrontation ran counter
partially filmed at Matanuska
neat ending, where eventually
larly during scene 10, which was Glacier in Alaska— the site where Dr. Thomas wished to settle his
colony— and during her scene at the Monument in DC, where she had to defend her right to film and to be present:
“I almost got arrested [by the
to my expectation of a happy,
everyone learns their proper lesson on how to be better people. However, the beads, that signify remembrance and currency de-
based, indicate that such a hope is futile; also, the story of Good-
Stock emboldens me to contemplate the roles of other mela-
make our way back home through the act of creating a new one.
We can retrace our paths forward through the beads of our ancestors and within our own DNA, leading ourselves to a higher
consciousness and state of grace. And to be present, to be truly
free, we must realize that we are able to make these choices and
move body and soul to our own
Artwork by Sienna Shields
beat and blood.
#weareblackculture | SUGARCANEMAG.com
43
Meeting Naiomy Guerrero BY: Tiffany Autriana Ward
“ Identifying as Latinx
can place an artist into its historical context of identity
CELEBRATING
politics and socially engaged art, yet not all U.S.
Photo by: Saddi Khali
decolonization, race, class, and the status of perpetual exile,” wrote Naiomy Guerrero last year in her
breakthrough article, America’s Most Expensive Artist Is Latinx—but No One Knows It.
Guerrero, 27, began her exploration into the U.S. Latinx art market after realizing
Photo by: Saddi Khali
Latinx artists make work that speaks to struggles of
WOMEN IN ARTS CULTURE
that despite having worked in the con-
temporary art world and studying contemporary art history, she was unable to name any living contemporary art-
DIVERSIT Y
ists of Latinx descent. Soon after, she
launched her bi-lingual contemporary art blog GalleryGirl.nyc connecting
readers to her exploration of the New York City art world. Guerrero has now
established herself as a writer, curator,
and editor with a breadth of knowledge
of contemporary U.S. Latinx art. In spring
of 2018, she was announced as Perez Art Mu-
seum Miami’s inaugural curatorial fellow of their Diversifying Art Museum Leadership Initiative.
Born in Manhattan, and raised primarily in the Morris Heights neighborhood of the Bronx, Guerrero spent
much of her childhood traveling between Washington
that way and how did they learn.” And yet despite her
Guerrero, the daughter of Dominican immigrants, her
or museum until after her freshman year at DePauw
Heights, the Bronx, and the Dominican Republic. For
love of art began at home in the Bronx. In a profile for PAMM, she spoke of how the graffiti she saw growing up in her building hallways, street blocks and the sub-
way mesmerized her and inspired her initial interrogation of visual art. “I thought about the kids who threw those tags up and wanted to speak to them.
I wanted a dialogue. Why did they bubble their letters
44
Art of Black Miami is a marketing platform and destination driver organized by the
early interest in art, Guerrero didn’t step into a gallery University in Greencastle, Indiana. The white cube
gallery spaces and the historic museums of New York were an entirely different and inaccessible world for
Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau that showcases the diversity of the visual arts locally, nationally and internationally, celebrating the black diaspora. This initiative highlights the artistic cultural landscape found in Miami’s heritage neighborhoods and communities year-round throughout Greater Miami and the Beaches. For up-to-date events, promotion and more information visit ArtofBlackMiami.com
the Bronx native. She didn’t learn of New York’s place as an art world capital until she left for the Midwest. “I didn’t grow up going to museums or galleries, or as part of the cultural fabric within the art historical
contributions my city is known for. I grew up poor in
ArtofBlackMiami.com • #ArtofBlackMiami SUGARCANE MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER 2018 | INAUGURAL Issue
#weareblackculture | SUGARCANEMAG.com
© Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau — The Official Destination Sales & Marketing Organization for Greater Miami and the Beaches. CS-02830
45
FEATURE | Naiomy Guerrero
the outer part of a borough that
Artsy, and Teen Vogue.
resources,” said Guerrero.
from working in a gallery,
was divested of much of the city’s
Much of her hometown pride is owed to being a Bronx native.
from. It was tough sometimes,
Family Foundation and the
Bronx and that its where I’m
but it wasn’t all bad like the way
it’s often portrayed in the media. My world was very small, sometimes chaotic/unstable, [but]
beautiful.”Combining her passion
for art history and a deep love for her heritage, Guerrero set out to become a Bronx Art Historian. Once returning to New York
after college, she spent the next few years working in large arts
nonprofits, galleries, and artist studios. . While working in the
galleries, Guerrero found herself caught in the reality of financial
instability like so many other art workers in New York. Shortly
after, she left her art job. She continued her research inde-
pendently, supporting herself
through her job as a financial aid adviser at New York University.
Driven by the dearth of marginalized artists at the numerous
shows and events she attended
during this period, she crafted an English and Spanish online space,
work being shared in NPR Latino,
46
Harrington Jr. a presently African-
Moosa Project represents Brian
American incarcerated artist who
work on at least two major cu-
was sentenced to 25 years in
ratorial projects, publish writing for the education and curatorial
departments, and create at least two new community partner-
state-
initiative that began in Novem-
in February,
ships. The fellowship is part of an ber 2017 to diversify curatorial
leadership at museums. Both of the foundations committed 6
million dollars over three years to fund 20 different curatorial
fellowship programs, including PAMM’s initiative. In August of
2018, after a series of high profile
hires of curators of color throughout the U.S., The New York Times published With New Urgency,
Museums Cultivate Curators of
Color. In the article, thirteen mu-
seums self-reported the percentage of full-time curators of color, PAMM led the diversity report with 50% of their curatorial
staff self-reporting as people of
color - including curatorial fellow Naiomy Guerrero.
of Art, Franklin Sirmans has led
independent research, with her
in St. Louis as well as work from
Ford Foundation, Naiomy will
of artists who were
a following through her blog and
Davis, a multimedia artist based
the King Moosa Project. The King
Since 2015, former Chief curator
like her. She gained
he occupied the same space as
ship funded by the Walton
gallerygirl.nyc, to
highlight the work
she chose emerging artist
painter from Overtown, Damon
lowship at PAMM.
During the two-year fellow-
artist as well. Born to a Haitian
Morel Doucet, a Haitian-born
she was offered the fel-
“I’m so happy I grew up in the
to me.” said Guerrero. When curating the festival’s exhibit
Four years after resigning
at Los Angeles County Museum
PAMM as Museum Director, one
ment
Sirmans spoke highly
tions. In June she
which Black diasporic identities
curated “The People’s
programming, exhibition installa-
The event was organized by Aja
tion, public speaking, and more will be valuable assets to this
institution and help us to achieve
our mission and vision to create a platform for diverse voices that is reflective of Miami’s multicultural community.” Still within her first year of her fellowship, Naiomy
has already worked on local community programming partner-
ships and the curation of PAMM’s exhibition “35th Anniversary: The Gift of Art.” The show opened in October and included the input of six of the museum’s curators.
A collective vision; the exhibition tells the story of the institution
through gifts made to the perma-
nent collection since its early days as Miami Art Museum.
Outside of working in the muse-
metropolitan area in the U.S.. In a
several partnerships with Miami-
SUGARCANE MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER 2018 | INAUGURAL Issue
Throughout Naiomy’s work she
Gallery,” at the Maroon Poetry
ground and experience in public
um, Naiomy has already created
prison at the age of 14.
commu-
nity organiza-
of Guerrero, stating “her back-
of the few African-Americans to lead a major museum in a
based
Festival in Liberty City, Miami.
Monet, a poet who leads Poetry for the People, a weekly gathering of Miami based poets and creatives, with support from
Community Justice Project. Fea-
tured events included poet Sonia Sanchez, artist Emory Douglas,
writer Ntozake Shange, hip-hop group The Last Poets as well as Vic Mensa and Jamila Woods. Naiomy’s introduction to the
project came through her friend Monet, who also co-founded
Smoke Signals Studio in Little
Haiti. “When I accepted this fel-
lowship I really committed myself to being a bridge and getting
to know Miami as much as one
person could. Helping bring this festival to Liberty City, a historic predominantly Black American neighborhood that doesn’t
operate within the institutional
art world context was important
frequently addresses the space in
father and a Puerto Rican mother, Naiomy and numerous other Afro-Latinx people in the U.S. The
diversity of the Latinx experience is often overlooked in conversa-
tions on race in the U.S. “Latinx,” the gender-neutral term used as an alternative to Latino, Latina, and Latin@ refers to people of
Latin American and Caribbean descent born or long living in
the U.S. And while the term is gender-
intersect. Growing up in New York as an Afro-Dominican woman Naiomy was well
aware of that space at an early age. She was also
aware of the erasure of blackness within her
own community. Race and self-identification can be regionally
specific, Naiomy notes. And Miami, a city filled
with lighter skinned Latinx
people is one region where
one can see the conflation of
race and nationality, as power
structures within the city benefit white and white-passing Latinx people of varying nationalities.
neutral,
sity grows, Guerrero hopes that
geneous. “You can be a white,
And as the conversation of diverit will become more nuanced. In
America’s Most Expensive Artist Is Latinx—but No One Knows It, she addressed this. Jean-Michel Basquiat, whom she wrote of,
was not just an African-American artist, but he was an Afro-Latinx
the category itself is still heteroBlack and/or Indigenous Latinx person. So you can be a Latinx
person and benefit from white/ white-passing privilege and/or colorism because Latinx is an
ethnic identifier, not a racial one,” Naiomy acknowledged.
#weareblackculture | SUGARCANEMAG.com
47
FEATURE | Naiomy Guerrero
ences in economic
And while Naiomy fights for Latinx representation
Making space for appreciating blackness doesn’t
access to resources
that pervades many Latinx communities. When
can and Latin American media as a whole needs a
acknowledge differ-
definitions of white-
class, and systemic
ness has been ever evolving. Bending
between black/in-
outward to incor-
digenous Latinx and
porate non Anglo-
white Latinx folks. I
Saxon immigrants into
think that conversation
the category of white-
would give us a more ac-
ness occurred with both
curate read of the makeup
Italian and Irish populations
of a particular group or space
during the 1900s. Prior to their
or institution,” Naiomy said.
inclusion, whiteness had been
“It is not unusual to walk into a venue in
primarily reserved for British colonialists
Miami and most people there are white Latinx. And
Pew Research Center found that 1.2 million Americans
yet that establishment believes itself to be diverse …
tino or Spanish origin” to “white” between the 2000
to change to address the power structures that are at
changed their racial identification from “Hispanic, Laand 2010 census. The data suggests that the process of adopting American whiteness has already begun
for many of Latinx origins. Many Latinx people in the U.S. have just as much European heritage as people
but if everyone looks the same, then something needs work.” As museums and organizations fight to make
space for the marginalized it is important to make sure they are actually in the room Naiomy notes.
who already identify as white American. Latin America
Another distinction Naiomy makes in her work is the
of Spanish, English, French, and Portuguese de-
ence from the Latin American one. Seeing Latinx art
and the Caribbean still maintain a sizeable population scendants. At the same time as Italian and Irish were
importance of separating the U.S. Latinx Artist experiand artists as a separate canon is essential in acknowl-
becoming white in the U.S., many Latin American
edging the experience and contributions of U.S.
people to whiten their populations post-Slavery.
ing to their lived experience in the U.S. according to
countries were inviting Europeans and Middle Eastern White Dominicans, for example represented 16 per-
cent of the Dominican population in the 1960 census, the last Dominican census to record race. Fear-based projections of America becoming a primarily “Hispanic” country are based on the assumption that
Latinx people will continue to identify in the same
way. But if, as Nate Cohn wrote in the New York Times article Pulse Of The People: More Hispanics Declaring Themselves White, “Hispanics ultimately identify as
white Americans, then whites will remain the majority for the foreseeable future.”
And as long as Americans continue to blur the lines
between racial and national origin for Latinx people, ideas of diversity will remain skewed. “A more pro-
48
and their area of specialty - even if it means hiring
is one where we
tory the concept and
and their “pure-white” descendants. In 2014, the
lacking in the U.S. is the first of many steps to building
ductive conversation
Within American his-
Latinx people. Artists of Latinx descent are respondGuerrero. While there may be similarities between
the work of Latin American and U.S. Latinx artists, the realities of a Latinx artists relationship to the U.S. can be varied as well as their connection to Latin American identity and culture. Latinx artists are American artists deserving of their own space. “We cannot
afford to shy away from the complexity that is shared culture, and must do our part to ensure Latinx artists
are conceptualized as both powerful protagonists and
producers of U.S. culture,” wrote Guerrero in her 2017 Artsy article. Celebrating this distinction also offers
space for collectors and curators to build and support the Latinx art market. Naiomy believes that recog-
nizing that the institutional support that many Latin
American artists received in their home countries is
SUGARCANE MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER 2018 | INAUGURAL Issue
a robust Latinx art market.
she is also not afraid to confront the anti-blackness people refer to themselves as “not Black” she often has them dig deeper, are they saying they don’t
have any African ancestry? Or are they saying they’re not African American? And if so why do they vehemently want to separate themselves from African
Americans? “There’s also this idea that aligning with your whiteness will get you closer to progress and
success, and that’s a result of how we’ve been brainwashed.” Its African Americans who have been the
ones to open doors for many Latinx people Naiomy believes. With gratitude she praised the Harlem
on My Mind protests, where several Black artists
banded together to protest the 1969 exhibit at the
Metropolitan Museum of Art. The exhibit, curated by Allon Schoener, ignited controversy for the decision to just feature photographs of Harlem instead of
paintings or sculptures by Black artists. Despite African-American art and cultural professionals advising the museum to include works of African American
additional help.
begin and end in the art world for Naiomy. Amerirevamping. What happens in popular culture informs the art world says Naiomy, “it’s a conversation, it’s a dance. It’s a bachata, a salsa between both of them. And part of the problem is the media consistently
making space for whiteness.” To see blackness and difference celebrated in museums it needs to be
celebrated and uplifted outside of them as well. One of her hopes is that this present moment can extend into unifying Black people throughout the dias-
pora. Studying history and seeing the connections between past movements and the current one will
amend some of the current divisions. “Any divisions that exist, exist because this is intentional. We see
each other as different, but how powerful would it
be if we actually focused on how similar we [as Black people] are and what we share,” Naiomy added.
And perhaps this moment of diversity will have a
strong impact on the inner workings of modern museums. In
artists in the show, The Met chose to ignore them.
the NY Times article, “With
After the show opened African American painter
New Urgency, Museums
Benny Andrews led the formation of the Black Emer-
Cultivate Curators of Color”
gency Cultural Coalition with artists Romare Bearden
Robin Pogrebin wrote “the
and Norman Lewis to picket the museum. They suc-
goal isn’t simply to hire
cessfully called out the Whitney and the Museum of
more curators of color or to
Modern Art for also excluding Black Artists in their
do more shows featuring diverse
museums. These protests were a pivotal moment in Contemporary American Art History, because they
artists, experts say, but for museums
brought to attention the importance of making struc-
to fundamentally alter the artwork they acquire and
curators of color. “To me, [this] Latinx conversation
Naiomy, new stories will certainly be told.
tural changes within these museums, such as hiring
wouldn’t exist if Black American folks hadn’t pushed
their approach to exhibitions.” With curators like
the envelope on inclusion and equity in the art
Up next Naiomy has continued planning program-
ships, all these opportunities are happening because
tor at PAMM, Maria Elena Ortiz and Natalia Zuluaga,
rero doesn’t believe that curators need to belong to
is planning a 2-day program Latinx Sessions, explor-
world.,” said Naiomy, “my fellowship, all these fellowof the fight of Black artists.” And although Guer-
the culture of the art they curate, they do need to
acknowledge their difference between themselves
ming for the city of Miami. Alongside associate cura-
artistic director of ArtCenter/South Florida, Naiomy ing Latinx identity in contemporary art. It is set for January 24-25.
#weareblackculture | SUGARCANEMAG.com
49
photo essay | Visions of eatonville
VISIONS of eatonville
Eatonville 2016 | I spotted this fiery afro just above the hedges of the home of Sara Mary-Lue Waldo and Mattie Ruth Waldo’s on Eaton Street. This group of friends and siblings were heading in the direction of the park on a Saturday morning.
Photography by Johanne Rahman
Johanne Rahaman is a Trinidadian-born, Miami-based documentary photographer, working in both film and digital formats since 2002, and the founder of the long-haul ongoing photographic archive, BlackFlorida. Her work examines shifting urban and rural spaces occupied by the Black communities throughout the State, underscoring the urgency and importance of recording these neighbourhoods that are in a constant state of flux.
Rahaman’s work has appeared in Vogue Magazine, National Geographic, Huffington Post, Quartz Africa, Fusion Network, BBC, Slate France, and she has been featured in New Yorker Magazine, Jezebel, Miami NewTimes, Orlando Weekly, and on CBS4, NBC6, WPTV3, and NPR’s affiliate stations; WLRN Miami and WMFE Orlando. Rahaman has been published in Oxford American Magazine, and the photojournal, Mfon: Women Photographers of the African Diaspora.
Compelled by a lack of nuance or positive representation of Black communities in media, Rahaman started documenting these communities in Florida that mirror her hometown- the stigmatized Laventille Hills of Trinidad, offering a snapshot of everyday moments that highlight entrepreneurship, beauty, sensuality, aging, mortality, youth, and resilience.
Rahaman is the recipient of the Art Center/South Florida Ellie’s Award 2018, and grants from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Alternate ROOTS, and Economic Hardship Reporting Project (EHRP). Awards she’s been nominated for include the British Journal of Photography’s Ones To Watch, and World Press Photo’s 6x6 Global Talent Program.
Emma Pinkard, 2016 | Emma Pinkard at her first home in Eatonville, early on a Saturday morning. She was enjoying a cup of coffee, and discussing Good Friday Mass from the night before. Her grandson Cameron looks on and listens intently.
Josephine Burns, 2016 | Josephine Burns, was on her way to visit her son on a Saturday afternoon. She lives in Maitland, and her son lives a few houses away in Eatonville. She was born in Oviedo, but grew up in Eatonville, where she graduated Hungerford High, and is an official “Quilter of Eatonville”. She suffered a stroke awhile back, which has affected her speech and mobility, but does not stop her.
50
SUGARCANE MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER 2018 | INAUGURAL Issue
Open Door Missionary Baptist Church, 2016 | Old-Fashion Dress-Up Day service at the Open Door Missionary Baptist Church, a small church, about 800 square feet, which was packed with all generations of congregants.
Revival Church, 2018 | Saturday evening in Eatonville, outside the Revival Church on Eaton Street.
Uncle Booster, 2018 | Uncle Booster counsels the teenagers of the family on his front porch on a Saturday morning
#weareblackculture | SUGARCANEMAG.com
51
FEATURE | the power of three
The Power of Three
nouncement was made again in 2016 with no results.
The museum is an ambitious project that aims to
answer why. The museum is now slated to open on
tions from the African Diaspora since time immemo-
None of the scholars associated with the museum can December 6th 2018.
The MBC is part of a “Seven Wonders of Dakar”
project which also includes a new National Theater,
National Library, the School of Fine Arts, the School of
Architecture, a Music Palace and a 49-meter tall statue entitled the African Renaissance Monument.
In Dakar, the unprecedented Museum of Black Civilization Must Open. Three Women are Making Sure of It.
Erin Pettigrew, an Assistant Professor of History and
By AYODEJI ROTINWA
somehow scraped together enough money to build
Arab Crossroads Studies, New York University Abu
of the soon-to-open Museum of Black Civilization (MBC), Dakar, whether it was usual in Senegal that the curatorial team of such an institution, the first of its kind, was predominantly led by women, her response was brusque.
had two women Prime Ministers.”
throughout the ages.” The MBC also hopes to foster
the preservation of history for those living on the con-
tinent and others who have ventured further abroad. Countless African Diasporic histories have been lost
over the years due to the lack of an institution on the continent equipped to archive those histories.
Bintou Rassoul, shared. “There is an absence of pride
The MBC
them to be proud of it,” Curatorial Assistant, Fatima amongst Africans, more increasingly within younger
populations, about said history and culture, because people don’t know how rich those narratives are.”
is part of a “Seven Wonders of Dakar” project which also includes a new National Theater, National Library, the School of Fine Arts, the School of Architecture, a Music Palace and a 49-meter tall statue entitled the African Renaissance Monument.
She is of course, correct. There is nothing strange about
women leading such a museum, especially in Dakar. Senegal had a female Prime Minister in 2001, Mame Madior
Boye, long before gender equality and feminism became global trending topics. The country’s Parliament passed
a gender parity law in 2010 obliging all political parties to put forward an equal representation of men and women
for public office. In 2012, after national elections, 42.7% of representatives in the National Assembly were women. According to El Hadj Malick Ndiaye, an Art Historian at
the Cheikh Anta Diop University, the MBC was originally
proposed in 1962 by Lamine Senghor, a Black activist intellectual. Four Presidents have come and gone since then, resulting in several false starts for the museum. In 2011,
a cornerstone was laid for the museum by then President
Abdoulaye Wade with an announcement that it would be complete in 28 months. It was never completed. An an-
52
diversity of (Black) civilizations, cultures and arts
daily power outages and terrible traffic due to poorly
bronze statues and a second national theater.”
“We do not ask this question here anymore. We already
feature “broad spectrum exhibitions representing the
“We are giving people back their history and we want
maintained and inadequate roads. However, Wade has
When I asked Awa Ndiaye Samb, curator
rial. A museum statement noted that the entity will
Dhabi, noted about Senegal in an opinion piece in
2011 that, “Most of Dakar’s neighborhoods experience
Ms. Mame Maguatte S. Thiaw | Mrs Awa NDIAYE Samb | Ms. Fatima Bintou Rassoul SY
trace, document and display history and contribu-
SUGARCANE MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER 2018 | INAUGURAL Issue
The MBC is largely funded by China, Senegal’s second
Contemporary ‘history’ would have us believe Africans
the case that one of the most important cultural en-
ern colonizers and missionaries. Any thorough inves-
largest trading partner. I asked everyone why it was
deavors on the continent was being built by a foreign power? Ndiaye said this is an “effective collaboration
with Senegalese architects. This can be the result of a successful cooperation.
But the Chinese also make it possible to diversify part-
ners and experiment with new types of collaboration. I don’t think they have an impact on scientific content.”
were barbarians who learned everything from West-
tigation of history will reveal that as early as the 14th
Century, the Benin Kingdom, a prosperous nation now absorbed into modern day Nigeria, had been trading
with the rest of the world, engaging in diplomatic relations, and sending emissaries to Portugal with bronzes long before colonization. Many of those precious artifacts were eventually looted by the British.
Ndiaye continued, “I think Africa is old enough to de-
To further complicate matters of historical art archival,
develop our continent, it would be foolish to lock our-
English, French, and Portuguese speaking African
fine its relations with other nations. As we continue to
selves into an unprofitable partnership just because of the bonds of the past.”
there are cultural, economic, social divides between
countries. Many regions have a close geographically proximity, but do not share much more across bor-
#weareblackculture | SUGARCANEMAG.com
53
FEATURE | the power of three
ders. Much of this is the result of
fact collections from Cuba, Brazil,
tells me that for the last 12 years,
Congo, Lusaka, Zambia, Dar Es
Heritage, with Professor Bocoum.
stay on old structures built before
zation that created differences
Egypt, South Sudan, Chad, South
Guide in museums and galleries
dent artistic initiatives are also
exhibitions will connect histo-
we should have other priorities.
divisive seeds sowed by coloniand erased similarities among
varied ethnic groups. Language has been used to further divide
these groups. Today, Ambazonia, the English speaking region of
Cameroon, formerly colonized by
Haiti, Trinidad & Tobago, U.S.A,
Africa, and Zimbabwe, and other African countries. Magette Sene
Thiaw, the museum’s researcher-
historian shared that the MBC will include collections from as early as the 16th Century.
The MBC will illuminate cross
cultural exchanges among global Black populations throughout
history to bridge the presumed
gaps between them, and foster
a unity that today is fraught. The museum stated that it wants to create “a renewed vision of
historical cultural continuities
which have proven to be powerful erasers of political borders inherited from colonization.” “[The MBC] must be seen as Great Britain is in a lopsided war with the better armed Frenchspeaking Cameroon, who still
shares close ties with its former colonial master, France.
There is also a divide between North Africa and the rest of
“sub-Saharan Africa,” as well
as Africans living on the conti-
nent and Africans in the greater
diaspora, whose ancestors were transported across the Atlantic through the Transatlantic slave
trade. Those divides result from an erasure of history.
The MBC aims to craft a cohesive
and complete narrative about the history of the African diaspora by
working with institutions and arti-
54
a place for dialogue between cultures, and an agreement
between different peoples, as
well as a space for the promotion of cultural diversity,” noted Art
Historian, Malick Ndiaye. “It is a
platform for exchanges between
cultures from all over the world,”
Ndiaye continued, “with the focus on the historical and contempo-
rary experience and conditions of Blacks around the world.”
If the museum’s curatorial team, headed by Director and Professor Hamady Bocoum, are at all
daunted by the sheer ambition of the work they have been tasked with, they do not let on.
Rassoul, the Curatorial Assistant,
SUGARCANE MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER 2018 | INAUGURAL Issue
she has worked as a Curatorial
in Paris including the Fondation
Louis Vuitton, as well as art fairs
Salaam, and Tanzania, indepenmushrooming, against all odds.
and community engagements in
“There is a time for coming back
recently premiered an exhibition
recently moved back to Dakar,
Europe. Fondation Louis Vuitton that focused on art exclusively
from the African continent, but
home”, Rassoul noted,.” She
hopeful of participating in the
One of the museum’s proposed ries of slavery and colonization that reveal that not all of those
who were not traded as slaves,
were the “executioners of those who left.” The exhibition also
highlights those who fought for
independence. Others [believe] But Senegal has always been
the cultural leader of Africa. The Museum is just another testi-
mony to our vision of the role of
culture in the development of our continent.”
previously focused on European artists. Rassoul also visited the
Dakar Biennale, the biggest and most critically acclaimed exhibition of contemporary African
art. It is her charge to keep track of the continent’s fledgling art industry and private initiatives
that promote, celebrate and build structures for contemporary African artists and their artworks.
The trend of documenting Afri-
Senegal
has always been the cultural leader of Africa. The Museum is just another testimony to our vision of the role of culture in the development of our continent.”
can artists is evolving. In 2013,
1-54, an art fair showing and creating an international market for
art from across the African continent, opened in London. In 2017,
it added an African destination to its roster in Marrakech, Morocco. In 2017, the Museum of Con-
temporary Art Al Maaden also
launched in Marrakech. In 2016,
Art X Lagos launched in Nigeria, which is now a prominent fair in
West Africa. In the same year, the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary
Art also opened its doors in Cape Town, South Africa.
Mali and Ethiopia host Bamako
Encounters and the Addis Photo Fair to promote contemporary photography and video from
across Africa. In Lubumbashi,
burgeoning artistic renaissance.
the freedom and independence
The museum plans to open
seum more accessible to the pub-
rently studying for a PhD on the
inaugural exhibitions planned for
“(My job) is to help make the mulic. It is important to engage with the public. If you want people to
understand how the world works, they have to learn their own history,” she said.
Thiaw, a historian for the mu-
seum, is a member of a network of fifty researchers that include
of their colonies. Thiaw is cur-
history of the illegal slave trade in Senegambia and its damage
on modern African societies. She noted that her job is to “create and organize intellectual and
ideological frameworks where
this knowledge can be produced and exchanged.”
without further delay. With four
its launch, the MBC has decided that it will rebel against confor-
mity. Representatives from the
MBC noted that their collections will not be categorized ethnographically because “ethno-
graphic museums are avatars to colonial exhibitions where our
ancestors were presented as a sub-humanity.”
Europeans and Africans from the
Ndiaye who has worked in the
investigate the social impacts
2006 and preparing for her role
The works will not be anthropo-
years acknowledges that found-
has, for a long time, helped to
global North and South, who
that persist today centuries after the abolition of slavery. For two years, she worked as a project
manager at Senegal’s Ministry
of Culture and Communication,
under its Department of National
Senegalese art industry since
at the Museum for the past two ing the museum has not been
without challenges. She did not mince words when she shared
that, “Some would prefer us to
logical “because anthropology divide humanity into races and
define “subhumanity,” therefore legitimizing the crimes against humanity and presenting the
#weareblackculture | SUGARCANEMAG.com
55
Slave Trade and Colonization
as civilizing missions. We must
invent a museology inspired by our values and traditions.�
The MBC strives to present a different model that will not mimic
colonial trends. Rather, the MBC is committed to creating a new
kind of archive that elevates the
accomplishments and histories of the African Diaspora.
December 6 - 9 artafricamiamifair.com 56
SUGARCANE MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER 2018 | INAUGURAL Issue
#weareblackculture | SUGARCANEMAG.com
57
black and basel | guide to the arts
When Art Basel arrived in Miami Beach in 2001, collectors, the jet set and those in the visual arts field attended
the definitive Bl ack Art Fair Guide
Art Basel and the few satellite events that coincided with the fair. Now, every gallery, artist, and non-profit wants a part of the weekend, and that is a positive thing. Art Basel Miami Beach/Miami Art Week brings no less than $13 million to the economy of Miami Dade County and provides a platform for over 4,000 artists to exhibit and perform. The palpable energy of the highly anticipated arts week encourages people to enjoy
Our favorite part of Art Basel Miami Beach/Art Miami Week is the representation of black artists from the African diaspora; artists from Haiti, The United States, Ghana, Nigeria, France, Brazil, Jamaica, and Cuba. You will find these artists in Miami Beach and the surrounding cities exhibiting their work and performing. This year, you can party with Virgil Abloh and view the work of Afro-Cuban artist Alexandre Arrechea. The amount of artwork by late-career and early career artists is vast and requires some research and planning if you
want to experience everything the diaspora has to offer.
“The Awakening” | Tawny Chatmon Galerie Myrtis
the art in traditional and non-tradition-
With a field that is filled with small and significant exhibits, this guide gives you everything you need to find artists of African descent. You will be able to explore Miami neighborhoods that have an exciting history and support the local Black Miami art scene, and larger fairs in commercial districts. This year, we’ve added a map to make navigating Miami more manageable, and to help you plan your Art Basel/Miami Art Week travel.
al ways. Art Africa Miami
Aqua Art Miami December 6-10
December 4-8
920 NW 2nd Ave
48 NW 29th Street Miami, FL 33127
Art Basel Miami Beach
Art Miami/Context December 4-9 One Herald Plaza (NE 14th Street & Biscayne Bay) Miami, FL 33132
Miami, FL 33136
“New Beginnings “ | Delita Martin Galerie Myrtis Fine Art Advisory
December 6-9
1901 Convention Center Dr. Miami Beach, FL 33139 The African Heritage
Cultural Art Center (AHCAC)
Art Warz December 1
6161 NW 22nd Avenue Miami, FL 33142
2900 Taylor Street Hollywood, FL 33020
December 1 “Life as Shorty Shouldn’t be so Ruff” Max Sansing | Line Dot
58
SUGARCANE MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER 2018 | INAUGURAL Issue
Broward Shrine Club
“Table Manners” | Zina Saro-Wiwa Tiwani Contemporary, London #weareblackculture | SUGARCANEMAG.com
59
Photograph taken at The Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, FIU, Miami
Participating Galleries Tschabalala Self | “Ice Cream” | 96 x 84”
Portait of Tschbalala | Credit Cyle Suesz
Dawn L. Stringer | “While You Were Sleeping” Galleries
Edge Zones Art December 8-22
3317 NW 7th Ave Circle, Miami, FL 33127 Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami (MOCA) 770 NE 125th Street
North Miami, FL 33161 New Art Dealers Alliance (NADA)
December 7-10
Alfred I. DuPont Building, 169 East Flagler Street Miami, FL 33131 Pulse Art Fair December 7-10
4601 Collins Avenue Miami Beach, FL 33140 Scope Art Fair Miami Beach December 4-9
59 NW 14th Street Miami, FL 33136
801 Ocean Drive
NSU Art Museum
Spectrum Art/Red Dot Fair December 6-10
One East Las Olas Blvd. Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301 Perez Art Museum (PAMM) 1103 Biscayne Boulevard Miami, FL 33132
Pigment Int’l. (Miami Reveal) December 4-6 The Penthouse at Riverside Wharf 125 SW North River Drive Miami, FL 33130
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Prizm Art Fair December 5-17
SUGARCANE MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER 2018 | INAUGURAL Issue
Miami Beach, FL 33139
Mana Wynwood
2217 NW 5th Avenue (NW 22nd Street) Miami, FL 33127
Visit the online edition of the Black and Basel guide by scanning this QR code.
# 303 Gallery 47 Canal A A Gentil Carioca Miguel Abreu Acquavella Altman Siegel Applicat-Prazan Alfonso Artiaco B Guido W. Baudach elba benítez Ruth Benzacar Bergamin & Gomide Berggruen Fondation Beyeler Blum & Poe Boers-Li Marianne Boesky Tanya Bonakdar Bortolami Gavin Brown Buchholz Bureau C Campoli Presti Canada Cardi Casa Triângulo David Castillo Cheim & Read James Cohan Sadie Coles HQ Continua Paula Cooper Corbett vs. Dempsey Pilar Corrias Chantal Crousel D DAN DC Moore Massimo De Carlo Di Donna E Andrew Edlin frank elbaz Essex Street
F Konrad Fischer Foksal Fortes D‘Aloia & Gabriel Peter Freeman Stephen Friedman G Gagosian Galerie 1900-2000 Gladstone Gmurzynska Elvira González Goodman Gallery Marian Goodman Bärbel Grässlin Richard Gray Garth Greenan Howard Greenberg Greene Naftali Karsten Greve Cristina Guerra Kavi Gupta H Hammer Hauser & Wirth Herald St Max Hetzler Hirschl & Adler Rhona Hoffman Edwynn Houk Xavier Hufkens I Ingleby J Alison Jacques rodolphe janssen Annely Juda K Kalfayan Casey Kaplan Kasmin kaufmann repetto Kayne Griffin Corcoran Sean Kelly Kerlin Anton Kern Kewenig Peter Kilchmann Kohn König Galerie
David Kordansky Andrew Kreps Krinzinger Kukje / Tina Kim kurimanzutto L Labor Landau Simon Lee Lehmann Maupin Tanya Leighton Lelong Lévy Gorvy Lisson Luhring Augustine M Magazzino Mai 36 Jorge Mara - La Ruche Matthew Marks Marlborough Mary-Anne Martin Philip Martin Barbara Mathes Mazzoleni Fergus McCaffrey Miles McEnery Greta Meert Anthony Meier Urs Meile Menconi + Schoelkopf Mendes Wood DM kamel mennour Metro Pictures Meyer Riegger Victoria Miro Mitchell-Innes & Nash Mnuchin Stuart Shave/Modern Art The Modern Institute mor charpentier N nächst St. Stephan Rosemarie Schwarzwälder Nagel Draxler Edward Tyler Nahem Helly Nahmad Francis M. Naumann Leandro Navarro neugerriemschneider Franco Noero David Nolan Nordenhake
O Nathalie Obadia OMR P P.P.O.W Pace Pace/MacGill Parra & Romero Franklin Parrasch Peres Projects Perrotin Petzel Plan B Gregor Podnar Eva Presenhuber Proyectos Monclova R Ratio 3 Almine Rech Regen Projects Nara Roesler Thaddaeus Ropac Michael Rosenfeld Lia Rumma S Salon 94 SCAI The Bathhouse Esther Schipper Thomas Schulte Marc Selwyn Sfeir-Semler Jack Shainman Sicardi Ayers Bacino Sies + Höke Sikkema Jenkins Jessica Silverman Simões de Assis Skarstedt SKE Fredric Snitzer Sperone Westwater Sprüth Magers Nils Stærk Standard (Oslo) Stevenson Luisa Strina T Templon Thomas Barbara Thumm Tilton Tokyo Gallery + BTAP Tornabuoni Travesía Cuatro
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A DUDLEY ALEXIS FILM
Discover how a soup survives the Haitian Revolution to become a symbol of freedom. FEATURING
EDWIDGE DANTICAT - BAYYAINAH E. BELLO
AVAILABLE ON vimeo.com/ondemand/libertyinasoup
Every New Year, and in celebration of their Independence, Haitian families gather together to feast in honor of a line of ancestors that fought for their freedom. The centerpiece of the festivity is the Soup Joumou —a traditional soup dating back to the Haitian Revolution. "Liberty in a Soup" reveals the origin of the Soup Joumou and its connection with the Haitian Revolution and Haiti's Independence Day. Savoring this dish is a moment of great conviviality among Haitians and it marks the emergence of a new society that recognizes the freedom and equality of all individuals.
@libertyinasoup
www.libertyinasoup.com
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