“Performing History” is series of related events hosted by the Department of Sculpture + Extended Media that brings together contemporary African and African American artists for a robust discussion of identity by looking at art that modifies, plays with, and reframes the historical record through object making and performance.
Invited artists include the London- based artist and author Samson Kambalu, the Houston-based artist Sondra Perry, and Detroit- based artist Jefferson Pinder as well as Sculpture faculty member Massa Lemu and Sculpture Fountainhead Fellow Ilana Harris-Babou.
Each artist will present a public lecture on their work, will conduct a group critique of a related student exhibition, will meet with grad students, and will participate in a panel discussion moderated by VCUarts faculty Massa Lemu. The discussion will focus on how these artists use the body as a sculptural object that is performed, and by doing so deals with interrelated issues including power, memory, subjectivity, race, and the historical framing of identity.
Prior to these on-campus visits, the department will organize faculty led student field trips to the recently opened Black History Museum & Cultural Center of Virginia in Richmond’s Jackson Ward, and Washington DC’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. Readings will be assigned in advance of these trips.
These visits will provide a local and national context for our discussions, and serve as inspiration for students who will prepare an exhibition in response to their own thoughts on the idea of “performing the historical body.” The student exhibition will be scheduled to open in conjunction with the on-campus visit of the guest artists. The visiting artists will meet with the students for an informal group critique of the show, opening a dialog about history and identity that can continue into the Q&A session following Massa Lemu’s panel discussion and beyond.
“Performing History” is designed to augment the Sculpture department’s current curricula by productively looking at the body as an object that is subject to historical forces. The focus on identity, particularly through the lens of the Black body, comes at a time when students in our department seek to find their voices within the national dialog concerning race. In the words of Aki Vander Laan, undergraduate student organizer of the Sculpture Inclusion Group, “inviting and prioritizing African and African-American art and narratives particularly in Richmond gives a sense of place/placelessness for these variably-experienced folks to come here and address historical issues.”
Submitted by Matt King, chair, Sculpture + Extended Media; Massa Lemu, assistant professor, Sculpture + Extended Media; Kendall Buster, professor, Sculpture + Extended Media, and Illana Harris-Babou, Fountainhead Fellow, Sculpture + Extended Media.
Award: $9,642
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