This article hit deep. Thank you for writing this very important topic. Also I’ve witnessed cases like what that director said. A lot of the power players in the art world don’t care about these black artists, they mostly view them as trending cash cows (for lack of a better word), to grudgingly promote and support their work.
Thanks Emi. I don’t know about you, but I find that it takes me time to process what's really going on in these spaces behind the veil of civility. Sorry you've had similar deflating experiences. I appreciate how the light from the genuinely good people helps illuminate the contrast with those who are less sincere
i read someone say once, with all their audacity “i’m tired of reading about this Black pain- it’s time we changed things up a bit.” this from someone who has the power to decide what gets published or not
urgh!
lived experience isn’t some curated exhibit, something to opt in and out of like a seasonal genre. the demand to rearrange Black narratives for the comfort of power is the very tension so many artists grapple with. it’s devastating, even more crushing is losing the forces who carved out spaces where Black artists didn’t have to contort their offerings for empire’s gaze. your words resonate because they lay bare the contradictions we battle with in our works, daily. thank you for hitting the nail.
may Koyo live in many of those who hold her work dear. may she never be forgotten!
This article hit deep. Thank you for writing this very important topic. Also I’ve witnessed cases like what that director said. A lot of the power players in the art world don’t care about these black artists, they mostly view them as trending cash cows (for lack of a better word), to grudgingly promote and support their work.
Thanks Emi. I don’t know about you, but I find that it takes me time to process what's really going on in these spaces behind the veil of civility. Sorry you've had similar deflating experiences. I appreciate how the light from the genuinely good people helps illuminate the contrast with those who are less sincere
This is from Scroll XVI of my project The Hidden Clinic. I wrote it as a prayer—not a statement. Not for applause. Just rhythm for witness. https://thehiddenclinic.substack.com/p/to-the-ones-who-were-set-on-fire
i read someone say once, with all their audacity “i’m tired of reading about this Black pain- it’s time we changed things up a bit.” this from someone who has the power to decide what gets published or not
urgh!
lived experience isn’t some curated exhibit, something to opt in and out of like a seasonal genre. the demand to rearrange Black narratives for the comfort of power is the very tension so many artists grapple with. it’s devastating, even more crushing is losing the forces who carved out spaces where Black artists didn’t have to contort their offerings for empire’s gaze. your words resonate because they lay bare the contradictions we battle with in our works, daily. thank you for hitting the nail.
may Koyo live in many of those who hold her work dear. may she never be forgotten!
“rearrange Black narratives for the comfort of power” this will stay with me. Thank you Malebo
The searing honesty of this piece. Thank you Lou. I really enjoyed reading this.
Appreciate that Nova, thank you.
Rest is resistance. Black fatigue is real. They make you burn out. Even in the burning out phase, I say Nah.