Free as they want to be: artists committed to memory

Abstract

'Free as they want to be : Artists Committed to Memory' is the companion publication to the FotoFocus biennial exhibition that is scheduled for Fall 2022. This project considers the historic and contemporary role that photography and film have played in remembering legacies of slavery and its aftermath while examining the social lives of Black Americans within various places including the land, at home, in photographic albums, at historic sites, and in public memory. This exhibition acknowledges artists' constant involvement with efforts to explore the possibilities of freedom and their relationship to it. Their quest to be 'as free as they want to be' is envisioned in the subject matter they explore as well as in their persistent drive to innovate aesthetic practices in photographic media. The publication presents some 20 artists working in photography, video, silkscreen, projection, and mixed media installation. Free as they want to be is inspired by the words of James Baldwin and the timely theme of FotoFocus, World Record, as well as events of late that have shaped the world as we know it. The artists selected for this publication are on the frontlines, creating, documenting, and writing. The works they have conceived reflect defining moments in the struggle for racial justice and equality.