GW's School of Media and Public Affairs collaborated with The ACE Magazine to host the first annual Black History Month Art exhibition, showcasing more than 20 artists’ work. Blacktivism: A New Generation reflected the important themes of ambition, justice, and self-love that are embodied by black communities in America. The exhibition showed that by mixing art with struggles in the black community, there is a fine line between the abstract world and reality that possesses the ability to extinguish racial discord in America.
Yonathen Kefelgn said it is “necessary to have an artistic perspective about the movement, especially from young people.”
The exhibition saw over 200 visitors in a space that holds only 150. The guests viewed the art pieces with patience and admiration, as their elbows rubbed against another onlooker trying to get a better view of the works. Even with an immense crowd, spoken word and music filled the room as the guests continued to view works ranging from photography and painting to video production. Many guests said the exhibition made them feel empowered.
Adam Middleton, former head editor of ACE Magazine, said he was pleased by the curation of the exhibition.
“[H]aving Black Lives Matter in the front puts the event into context,” he said. "With this struggle, it’s important to put something timely to grab the viewer’s attention”
Other visitors were also astonished by the turnout of people at the art exhibition.
Shaquille Williams, a student at Howard University said, “There’s not a big representation of black people on GW’s campus so to see this many black faces and black art is amazing.”
Among the various artists whose works were in the exhibition was George Washington University’s own Zinhle Essamuah, who presented her documentary Hands Up--- an exploration of the Black Lives Matter Movement. Lanie Edwards, a junior, also had artwork in the show that conveyed her message of black female power through her mixed-media photography.
A collective favorite among the guests was an enlarged version of the power fist emoji. This minimal piece behaved as a centerpiece throughout the entire exhibit, representing black power, black pride, and black perseverance.
In addition to minimal art pieces, photography was widely shown and adored by many of the guests. Mother Sarawati of Mother’s Land by Jasmine Holder, which also features ACE’s editor-in-chief, Nana Agyemang, paints the natural aesthetic and divinity of the black female.
Digital artist, Reese Bland, used a mixture of photography and mixed media in her photo series Black Lives Matter DMV, which places the conversation of police brutality in the local sphere of D.C. The somber and dark tone of the pictures helped viewers relive the moments when black unarmed men and women are shot by police.
Among paintings, Shawn Perking’s showcased two great contrasting murals. The mural titled Biggiat pictured an eccentric, colorful, and immense Biggie Smalls as one of the kings of rap. With his slightly tilted crown, Biggie exemplifies the nature of his cool tendencies as it permeates through a mask that constantly faces adversity. Perking’s other mural titled The Champ is Here portrays Muhammad Ali training underwater. Perking's used heavy contrast between light and dark. Both of Perking’s subjects were champions in their fields that were dominated by Blacks: Athletics and rap music.
The Blacktivism art exhibition gave a beautiful mixture of soulful cries and sweet vibes, but most of all it gave people hope. While seeing a collective body of black people reflecting and sharing their mutual experiences over art was astounding, the hope felt was caused by a young generation of intellectuals expressing their knowledge of political and social injustice in America.