Museum Press Room
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
THE KINDRED BLACKNESS MUSEUM DEBUTS NEW EXHIBITION
ARTOGRAPHY: BLACK ART LIT DATA COMMUNITY ARCHIVING
December 2023---ARTOGRAPHY: Black Art Lit Community Archiving (2023) is an extraordinary futuristic exhibition that showcases the exceptional talent of African American artists who were born or adopted as residents of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - reimagined through the lens of autoethnography, data as narrative, and artificial intelligence. The exhibition will debut online February 1, 2024.
The artwork combines visual and literary art in a mixed-media data story approach, highlighting each artist's unique experiences in community archiving of Black history. The exhibition curator, through an autoethnographic lens, researched community archiving practices that have taken place through these works during eras of Black history in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ARTOGRAPHY as an exhibition is presented as a fictional data narrative told through the lens of 21-year-old LeRoy Malik Locke who lives in Iaville, Philadelphia.
The Definition | The Methodology
"Artography"
According to scholar, Rita L. Irwin (2022), A/r/tography is the practice of exploring the world through a continuous process of creating art and writing. The two mediums are interconnected, weaving together to create enhanced meanings. A/r/tographical work is guided by concepts such as living inquiry, metaphor/metonymy, and excess, embodied in the exchanges between art and text. While a/r/tography is about self-expression, it is also social. Groups of a/r/tographers come together to engage in shared inquiries and present their collective works to others.
Reimagined Artwork in Exhibition Data Narrative
Without a doubt, this outstanding assemblage of reimagined AI artwork, artographrapy, and literature by the narrator unequivocally attests to the exceptional talent and skill of African-American artists renowned artists such as Alain LeRoy Locke, Howardena Pindell, Barbara Chase-Riboud, Ellen Powell Tiberino, Syd Carpenter, Moses Williams, Nanette Acker Clark, Frances Harper, Jessie Fauset, Kristen Hunter, Loren Carey, Mae V. Cowdry, Sonia Sanchez, and Alice Dunbar Nelson.
The Curator
Alain LeRoy Locke, a prominent American writer, philosopher, educator, and patron of the arts, received recognition as the first African-American Rhodes Scholar in 1907. Notably, Locke's contributions to the Harlem Renaissance as the philosophical architect and the "Dean" have left a lasting impact on American literature and culture. Locke's expertise in philosophy and literature enabled him to inspire an entire generation of African-American writers and artists, encouraging them to embrace their cultural heritage and challenge the status quo. Locke's legacy as a trailblazing visionary continues to inspire scholars and artists alike to this day.
The exhibition is sponsored by The Kindred Blackness Museum, ART LIT DATA, The Creative CoLab, and the 2023 LEAD Fellows Program at Drexel University in conjunction with Temple University Libraries. The reimagined exhibition is available online from February 1, 2024, through September 7, 2024, and is not to be missed.
Contact Information:
Alain LeRoy Locke
The Kindred Blackness Museum
Phone: 215-435-0017
Email: blackart@kindredblacknessmuseum
URL: http://bit.ly/thekindredblacknessmuseum