Respect: Celebrating 50 Years of AfriCOBRA
- ISBN-10
- 1644673991
- ISBN-13
- 9781644673997
- Series
- Respect
- Pages
- 61
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2018-11-26
- Author
- Christina M. Shutt
Description
50 years later, this collective of artists continues to define their mission as "an approach to image making which would reflect and project the moods, attitudes, and sensibilities of African Americans, independent of the technical and aesthetic structures of Euro-centric modalities." This philosophy of artmaking which transcends the individual toward a collective identity continues to revolutionize a world in which unity and the humanity of people is frequently dismissed. In reflecting on 10 years as a museum dedicated to telling the stories of African Americans in Arkansas, we are able to continue in the work that AfriCOBRA started-to give life to stories that are too frequently relegated to the basements of large museums or dismissed entirely. When we affirm that these stories-that this art matters, we are also affirming that by extension African American people matter as well. In the words of founding member, Jeff Donaldson, "Dig the diversity in unity. We can be ourselves and be together, too."
