If a picture is worth a thousand words, then the emotions associated with such photos are surely innumerable, not unlike the word "home." Down home, Old home, back home--all variations on a theme. All references to a familial and spiritual place of residence. To flip a lyric spit by Rakim, life is as much about where you're from as it is where you are. Code Z knows this, the good people at NPR know this, and the Brick City knows it as well.
Through April 6, the WBGO Gallery in Newark NJ is presenting the photography-based work of five artists in Recollections of Once Hidden Histories. While DuBois spoke of double consciousness, in '07 we're specifically talking about dualities and dichotomies that manifest from Westernization, globalization, and multi-lingua inherent in today's society. This cultural dexterity is explored via the personal and often provocative works of Derrick Adams, A. Olusegun Fayemi, Leslie Hewitt, Yolanda Skeete, and Deborah Willis.
In the spirit of storied photographers Albert Chong, James VanDerZee, Coreen Simpson, and Seydou Keita, to name a few, Recollections shows us what it (and we) really look(s) like. Even if we don't hyphenate, ideologically many of us see ourselves as brothers and sisters from another (mother), that "mOther" being Africa, in this case.
Recollections, curated by Victor Davson and Rose Oluronke Ojo, invites us to consider our otherness as we straddle an expansive history bridged by memories and materials. And as many of us juggle being Africans in America, Europe, and elsewhere, we are reminded that where we're from informs where we're going.
