Black futures/Black imaginings
Join us as we explore the concept of Black futurism as an imaginative and liberatory practice. Black Futurism, Afro-Futurism, Astro Blackness, and its other titles center around themes of liberation for Black people, reclamation of self and culture, and imagining the future.
The Reginald F. Lewis Museum is excited to partner with Galerie Myrtis and the James E. Lewis Museum of Art at Morgan State University to present the groundbreaking exhibition “Afro-Futurist Manifesto: Blackness Reimagined” for the first time in the United States. Curated by Myrtis Bedolla for the 2022 Venice Biennale, “Afro-Futurist Manifesto” brings together a stellar assemblage of African-American Artists who construct a future forged in transatlantic links and Afrofuturism’s ideology to expand the notion of Blackness at the intersection of technology and liberation. This existence has been conceived, as asserted by author Kevin Young, in “Elsewhere … the remapping of what’s here,” forming an alternative reality where one’s freedom and humanity is found.
Program Offerings
Kindred Summer Book Club Session II with guest speaker Tananarive Due
Saturday, July 22nd | 3 pm EST
Virtual via Zoom (Link will be provided after registration and prior to the event)
Virtual guest speaker Tananarive Due will explore the author behind the book to continue the conversation about Kindred. Due is an award-winning author who teaches Black Horror and Afrofuturism at UCLA. A leading voice in Black speculative fiction for more than 20 years, Due has won an American Book Award, an NAACP Image Award, and a British Fantasy Award. Her writing has also been included in several best-of-the-year anthologies. Shortly after the publication of her debut novel, The Between, Due met sci-fi icon and MacArthur genius Octavia E. Butler at a Black writers’ conference, which led to friendship. Due wrote the article, “Inside My 90 – Minute Visit with Octavia Butler” for Essence Magazine in 2020.
Kindred Summer Club Session 3 and Kindred FX Film Screening with Guest Speaker Courtney Lee-Mitchell
Saturday, August 12 | 1 pm
The Reginald F. Lewis Museum Theater, 2nd Floor
Free with Museum Admission
NOTICE🚨: The Kindred event for tomorrow is cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances. We will reschedule the event at a later date. If you have questions or concerns, please contact Visitor Services at 443-262-1800. Thank you.
Afro-Futurist Manifesto: Blackness Reimagined Artist Panel – Part II
Saturday, August 19 | 2 pm
Join several artists from Afro-Futurist Manifesto: Blackness Reimagined for a conversation examining afro-futurism and how it served as an inspiration for their works. The panel is moderated by Afro-Futurist Manifesto originating curator Myrtis Bedolla of Galerie Myrtis.