Commissioner Jean-Pierre L. Oriol of the Department of Planning and Natural Resources invites the community to attend the third annual Emancipation art exhibition opening on Friday, July 12th from 5:00 to 7:00 pm at Fort Frederik Museum. This year’s exhibition is entitled: BLACKFULLNESS.
The group show curated by Chief Curator Monica Marin of the Division of Libraries, Archives and Museums called on artists from across the Virgin Islands, the African-Caribbean Diaspora, and/or who are connected to the region to submit work.
The exhibition will feature work by Waldermar Brodhurst, Jeffrey Rezende, Victoria Rivera, Elisa Mackay, Danica Davis, Niarus Walker, Adrian Edwards, Ray Llanos, La Vaughn Belle, Quiana Adams, Elwin Joseph, Stuart Rames, Mike Walsh, Danielle Kearns, Rob Gigsun, Therese Trudeau, Eric Paxton, A’we Study Group featuring: Sayeeda Carter, Kemit Amon-Lewis, Oceana James, and Nina Mercer, among others.
BLACKFULLNESS is a word coined by the late Black feminist Audre Lorde to describe what she loved about her chosen home of St. Croix. Specifically, her beloved majority Black community provided her with a sense of great belonging and purpose that transcended place. In an interview entitled Above the Wind, Lorde speaks to her experience of coming to St. Croix to heal and to be actionable as both an artist and as a human-rights activist. Like Lorde, many creatives from the US have similarly been drawn by the energy of the people of the Virgin Islands who have served as beacons of light and inspiration.
“This year’s exhibition spotlights the spirit of resistance that is at the core of Virgin Islanders’ identity and that is etched into everything that makes Virgin Islands’ cultural production so powerful. It calls attention to how Black protest and art & activism in our region have influenced international Black brilliance and liberation”, stated Chief curator Monica Marin
The BLACKFULLNESS exhibit will open at the Fort Frederik Museum on Friday, July 12th from 5:30pm-7:30pm. Admission is $10 per person, students 17 and under are free. Additional free viewing on Saturday, July 13 from 1:00pm – 4:00pm. The show will be up through October during normal Fort Frederik Museum hours: M-F from 9-4:30pm.
For questions, please contact Monica Marin at monica.marin@dpnr.vi.gov/340-772-2021.
