Lecture: To See Is to Know: Children of Middle Passage

On Tuesday, October 8 at 5 p.m., Arturo Lindsay, D.A., Artist and Professor Emeritus of the Department of Art and Art History at Spelman College will present a lecture entitled To See Is to Know: Children of Middle Passage. (This event will also be livestreamed on thequicklive.com - click here to register for a reminder!)

Two works from the Children of Middle Passage series form part of the exhibition Sacred Space: A Brandywine Workshop and Archive Print Exhibition (Walsh Gallery, September 27 - December 21, 2024). For more information on the exhibition, click here.

To see is to know. But how can we know the unseen – the histories, the stories, the names of a people that were undocumented or erased?

Arturo Lindsay, 2010

I asked myself that question late one evening as I looked at the sun setting behind the hills on the bay of Portobelo. The view from my studio faces the ruins of a dock that was, at one time, the first encounter with tierra firme for many weary, shackled and enslaved black feet whose journey began months earlier in Africa.

The setting sun in Portobelo reflects off the cerulean blue sky and puffy white clouds onto the still waters of the bay producing a rather unique effect of light that seemingly glows from beneath the surface of the water. I wondered that evening … could this light be the souls of the children who perished at sea?

The following morning, I began imagining and imaging the anonymous faces of the children who perished during the middle passage of the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

So began my journey to see their faces, to hear their stories, their names and their laughter. Through the magical rituals of seeking, seeing and imaging that we call Art, I collaborated with poet Opal Moore and jazz musician Joseph Jennings to create a series of prints, drawings and performance art rituals that provided some answers.”

This event is generously co-sponsored by the Arts Institute, the Departments of Visual and Performing Arts and History, and the programs in Black Studies and LatinX, Latin-American and Caribbean Studies.

Image: Arturo Lindsay, Umar of Segou, 2001, offset lithograph. Lent by the Brandywine Workshop & Archives © Arturo Lindsay

Please note that only 2 tickets may be reserved per order. If you have questions, please contact [email protected].

Host or Publisher Fairfield University Art Museum