New Exhibit in Lane Hall Gallery - Winter 2019
nastassja e. swift
she was here, once
January 9 - August 2, 2019
Opening Reception: Monday, February 25; 4-6 p.m.
The mobility and displacement of the Black body, from port to holding cell, to ward and out, is a history that is embedded in our communities socially, culturally and geographically. Alluding to feelings of pain, otherness, power and triumph, she was here, once features work that illustrates a moment of remembrance and reflection on the women who have roamed these spaces before us.
In summer 2018, artist Nastassja Swift organized a collaborative workshop and public performance in her home city of Richmond, Virginia. Using a range of choreographed movement, sound, and solidarity, eight Black women and girls, wearing large needle felted wool masks, traced the ancestral footprints of the arrival of the Black body in Richmond. The 3.5 mile walk began in Shockoe Bottom (the site of the importation of slaves into Richmond, and one of the largest sources of slave trade in America) and concluded in the Jackson Ward neighborhood (one of the largest Black communities in Richmond).
The multi-layered piece has produced a short film, mini documentary, photography, and performance masks, on display in her solo exhibition, she was here, once in Lane Hall.
Lane Hall Gallery is open to the public weekdays from 8am - 5pm. Class visits are encouraged.
Contact Heidi Bennett, IRWG Event Planner (heidiab@umich.edu) with questions about this exhibition.
exhibition co-sponsors: Women's Studies Department, Stamps School of Art & Design, Department of Art History, Department of English Language & Literature, Center for the Education of Women+, Eisenberg Institute for Historical Studies.
Work in this exhibition has been supported by the Culture Works Grant Program.
