The 268-page publication expands the field of exhibition histories through a selection of pioneering exhibitions that have shaped Black art today. Emphasizing how Black artists have organized, networked and created space for their work, it is the first publication to focus exclusively on African diasporic art in the US and UK through the histories of Black art exhibitions. Through a range of contributions by artists, art historians, curators and theorists, this publication reflects on the sociopolitical circumstances that were essential to the emergence of a field of study and mode of exhibition that is constantly reshaping itself and challenging normative orders. Edited and introduced by Nana Adusei-Poku, with contributions by Mora J. Beauchamp-Byrd, Bridget R. Cooks, Abby R. Eron, Amber Esseiva, Cheryl Finley, Languid Hands (Imani Mason Jordan and Rabz Lansiquot), Julie L. McGee, Derek Conrad Murray, Serubiri Moses, Senam Okudzeto, Richard J. Powell, Jamaal B. Sheats, Howard Singerman, Marlene Smith with Claudette Johnson, Lucy Steeds and Brittany Webb.
Published on occasion of the online event Reshaping the field: Arts of the African Diasporas on Display, 4 –6 Nov, 2021. Organized by Nana Adusei-Poku, then Associate Professor and Luma Scholar at the Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College. Read the introductory essay by Nana Adusei-Poku here.
Published by Afterall in 2022 in association with the Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College; Asia Art Archive; and the Faculty of Fine, Applied and Performing Arts, University of Gothenburg. Distributed by Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther und Franz König, Cornerhouse Publications and ARTBOOK | D.A.P.