Exhibit explores identity of black males in 21st Century America
Staff at the Maier Museum of Art at Randolph College hope a new video exhibit will create a community discussion about the effect of race on contemporary life in America. Question Bridge: Black Males opened last week.
The three-hour video-art documentary features dialogue between black men about the effect race has on education and the workplace, stereotypes, religion, sexual orientation and interracial relationships, and much more.
Maier director Martha Johnson said the five-screen wide installation is the largest video exhibit the Maier has ever displayed.
Pictured are some of the local men who were interviewed for the Lynchburg Bridge video. From left, they are Donald Hendricks, Harry Dillard, Chris Evans, Rory Lee-Washington, and Hyland “Hank” Hubbard.
“It’s on a continuous loop during public hours so people can come in and watch as little or as much as they want,” said Johnson. “It’s very engaging, and the artists are kind of playful with how they set up their questions.”
Two Randolph staff members, Victor Gosnell, the chief technology officer, and Hermina Hendricks, director of multi-cultural services, worked with a member of the Board of Trustees, Hank Hubbard, to create a Lynchburg version of the video. Gosnell interviewed 15 black men from the Lynchburg area for a two-hour video called Lynchburg Bridge.
The Maier staff plans to upload raw footage to the Question Bridge website, www.questionbridge.com, for inclusion in its national project. Johnson hopes it will inspire more local black males to contribute and help Question Bridge reach its goal of accumulating 200,000 question and answer videos by the end of summer in 2016.
“The organization is really excited about what we’re doing here locally,” said Johnson.
Johnson came across the video-art project while planning this year’s Annual Exhibition and thought it would make an excellent lead-in to the Maier fall programming, especially given recent national events involving racially charged violence. In September, the Maier will host the 104th Annual Exhibition, Breath/Breadth: Contemporary American Black Male Identity, and the 24th Annual Helen Clark Berlind Symposium, which features a panel discussion with three of the artists represented in the exhibition.
Finally, the Maier will screen another documentary, Through a Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People, in October.
“It does seem very timely,” Johnson said. “And when Randolph students return for fall semester, they will be entering a conversation that’s already in full swing with our local audience.”
The video exhibit will be available to the public in Gallery 4 through October 10.
The Maier is currently operating on summer hours and is open Wednesday through Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m. For more information, please contact the Maier at 434-947-8136 or museum@randolphcollege.edu.
