{"id":262221,"date":"2025-05-29T07:25:05","date_gmt":"2025-05-29T07:25:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/aerospace\/new-exhibition-features-contemporary-portraits-honoring-forgotten-black-abolitionists\/"},"modified":"2025-05-29T07:25:05","modified_gmt":"2025-05-29T07:25:05","slug":"new-exhibition-features-contemporary-portraits-honoring-forgotten-black-abolitionists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=262221","title":{"rendered":"New Exhibition Features Contemporary Portraits Honoring Forgotten Black Abolitionists"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Cambridge University\u2019s Fitzwilliam Museum is spotlighting the men and women who fought to end slavery but received little attention from artists during their lifetimes<\/h2>\n
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Eli Wizevich<\/a><\/p>\n

– History Correspondent<\/span><\/p>\n

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An 18th-Century Family,<\/em>\u00a0Joy Labinjo, 2022
\n Joe Giddens \/ PA Images via Getty Images<\/span>
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In 1789,\u00a0Olaudah Equiano<\/a> published a memoir titled\u00a0The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano; or, Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Equiano had been abducted from an Igbo village in West Africa at age 11. In the memoir, he detailed how he had been sold into slavery in the West Indies and Virginia and eventually purchased his freedom. The Interesting Narrative<\/em> became a bestseller and ignited international conversations about the horrors of slavery.<\/p>\n

For such a prominent man, however, Equiano received little attention from artists during his lifetime. Only an engraving of Equiano\u2019s likeness printed in the frontispiece of The Interesting Narrative<\/em> remains. The original miniature portrait has been lost to history.<\/p>\n

Omissions of Black abolitionists, resistance leaders and other prominent figures from the historical record are common. But for contemporary artists, omission can be an opportunity for creation.<\/p>\n

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A view of the exhibition, which includes some 100 objects from contemporary and historic artists and creators<\/p>\n

The Fitzwilliam Museum<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI started off feeling sad and annoyed about the fact that these figures weren\u2019t more widely known, and that quickly moved to excitement,\u201d\u00a0Joy Labinjo<\/a>, a British-Nigerian artist, tells\u00a0Artnet<\/em><\/a>\u2019s Jo Lawson-Tancred.<\/p>\n

Labinjo painted An 18th-Century Family<\/em>, an imagined scene of Equiano with his family. Acquired by the University of Cambridge\u2019s Fitzwilliam Museum in 2022, the artwork <\/em>is now the centerpiece of \u201cRise Up: Resistance, Revolution, Abolition<\/a>,\u201d an exhibition that explores the fight to end the transatlantic slave trade and the ongoing struggle against racism and injustice.<\/p>\n

The exhibition pairs historical paintings and objects with contemporary works. In particular, curators focused \u201con the testimony of individuals as a powerful tool of resistance\u2014and as a way of helping others to recognize injustice,\u201d museum director\u00a0Luke Syson<\/a> tells BBC News<\/a>\u2019 Katy Prickett.<\/p>\n

Paired with Labinjo\u2019s painting of Equiano is a collection of objects from throughout his life, including his will and inventory from 1797, his marriage certificate to\u00a0Susannah Cullen<\/a> and a set of Nigerian drums made in the early 20th century, offering a glimpse into the homeland from which he was torn.<\/p>\n

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‘Rise Up: Resistance, Revolution, Abolition’ exhibition trailer<\/p>\n

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