Last Sunday, I had the privilege of moderating an online discussion organized by visual artist Fahamu Pecou, as part of the recent launch of his new museum, the African Diaspora Art Museum of Atlanta (ADAMA). The ADAMA Arts Salon is an ongoing series that’s already pulled in an impressive roster of speakers including curators Niama Sandy and Larry Ossei-Mensah; as well as visual artists Delphine Fawundu and Alexis Peskine, to name a few.
Here’s way the session was framed:
For decades, Black artists have been overlooked and underrepresented in mainstream museums and arts institutions. This discrepancy has led many artists and entrepreneurs to take the initiative to create alternative spaces and develop organizations that provide a myriad of opportunities for artists to thrive. This week ADAMA Art Salon hosts a conversation with leaders of 4 amazing organizations that step up to fill the void. Our conversation will explore the need for and role of non-traditional spaces in advancing African Diaspora art and artists.
Fahamu brought me together with:
- Christopher Cozier, director of Alice Yard in Trinidad & Tobago
- Sharelly Emanuelson, filmmaker and director of Uniarte in Curacao
- AJ Girard, community relations manager at The Underground Museum in Los Angeles, CA
The thing that’s always great for me is to 1) be around new, smart people; 2) get a chance to see just how much great work is going on beyond NYC and, even, outside the States. Shout-out to the panelists, as well as the audience who stuck around for almost two full hours to be part of the discussion. Check out the video below:
There’s another conversation tomorrow between Edward Spriggs, the former director of the Studio Museum in Harlem and founder of Atlanta’s Hammonds House Museum, and Pellom McDaniels III, curator of African American collections at the Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library at Emory University.
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