Join us for the culmination "Free To Speak! A Convening on Art, Slavery and Reconciliation", a celebration of Black creativity, agency, and memory inspired by the exhibition Hear Me Now: The Black Potters of Old Edgefield, South Carolina. The evening will feature National Book award winning poet Nikky Finney and a chance to chat with the curators of Hear Me Now in the galleries. Refreshments provided.
Nikky Finney has spent her career illuminating the Southern cultural and political heritage of Black people in ways that resonate throughout the country and world. Her ongoing legacy of poignant expression, indomitable truth, and devotion to social justice has enriched the country and world. In her career of more than 30 years, Finney has written six books and hundreds of poems and essays that explore and confront the experiences that have shaped life in the South for herself and countless other African Americans. Her most recent book, Love Child’s Hotbed of Occasional Poetry (Northwestern University Press, 2020) is an enduring love song to her father and 400 years of African American fight and ingenuity. Finney is Carolina Distinguished Professor at USC in Columbia where she is also Director of the Ernest A. Finney Jr. Cultural Arts Center, a 21st century arts and cultural center named for her father, an exciting endeavor deeply planted in the twin soils of creativity and Black cultural expression.
This program is part "Free To Speak! A Convening on Art, Slavery and Reconciliation", a 2-day celebration of Black creativity, agency, and memory. Inspired by UMMA’s presentation of Hear Me Now: The Black Potters of Old Edgefield, South Carolina, 'Free to Speak' hopes to contribute to urgent national conversations about racial justice while exploring what it means to exhibit materials made by enslaved people in Southeast Michigan, especially in light of the region’s relationships to the Underground Railroad, the Great Migration, the explosion of Black music and culture, and ongoing racial protest and liberation movements. Part storytelling, part scholarly deep dive, the discussions and diverse perspectives that emerge will offer new possibilities to inspire change in the arts and culture field.
To see the full schedule and to RSVP, click here.
