Agitu Ideo Gudeta Fellowship was awarded to artist
Silvia Rosi in April to support an experimental practice that reflects on the vernacular photo archives of Afrodescendent peoples in Italy as a form of shifting the personal into collective forms of memory and legacy. The proposal envisions a recalibration in value to safeguard and maintain personal and public archives, while attesting to the individual responsibilities that each of us has in regards to caring for and narrating the past. Rosi’s work speaks of the need to trouble the academic perception of archives, which has been overlooked more than it has been conserved.
“The second edition aims to be an invitation to join us in this circle to which we should all feel like we belong
if the intention is to speak honestly about the past, each understanding his/her role whenever a voice is given to the artworks that surround us, and appreciate the absolute exceptionality and uniqueness with which every individual is and was remembered in art,” explained the curator of the show,
Justin Randolph Thompson, who is also the co-founder and director of
Bowdoin College Museum of Art
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Justin Randolph Thompson, director and co-Founder of Black History Month Florence, will offer an online presentation at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 17, about the origins, achievements and future objectives of “On Being Present: Recovering Blackness in the Uffizi Galleries” hosted by the Bowdoin College Museum of Art in Brunswick. The program was launched in February 2020 as a collaboration between Black History Month Florence and the Uffizi. This project, which has involved the efforts of multiple arts experts, highlights the histories of African figures in the museum’s paintings and sculptures. The Bowdoin College Museum of Art is located at 9400 College Station, Brunswick. For more information, call (207) 725-3275 or visit bowdoin.edu/art-museum.
Echoes and agreements: A photo essay
Drawing on the Uffizi’s Hypervisions exhibition “On Being Present”
Theophilus Marboah
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In
Five Ways of Being a Painting, historian William Max Nelson writes: “Like any good aphorism, the short sentence functions as both a part and a whole. At first, it seems to make sense in isolation, yet it calls out for placement within a context that could reveal some fuller meaning.”
Top: Vittore Carpaccio, Gli Alabardieri, 1490-1493. Gallerie degli Uffizi, Florence. Su concessione del Ministero per i beni e le attività culturali e per il Turismo; Bottom: Johny Pitts, Berlin, from the series Afropean.
It was a sweltering day when Justin Randolph Thompson and I sat down outdoors for coffee and a renewed commitment.
The Florentine has always given space to
Black History Month Florence as the cultural initiative has evolved since its foundation in 2016, but in 2021 we feel compelled to dive deeper and broaden an awareness of Black culture in Florence. In addition to a regular column, this month’s issue contains an extended special edited by BHMF, which will be accompanied by online chats on our Facebook pages and YouTube channels. It’s our hope that the Italian media will follow suit to amplify under-acknowledged voices throughout the country. Contents include a thought-provoking review of the