Morehouse College Art Initiative

Shared Understanding Project

Workshop Video

Virtual Museum Gallery Rooms
Resistance Art
Resistance Art - Room 2
Gender
Gender - Room 2
Urbanization
Urbanization - Room 2
Global Expressionism
Global Expressionism - Room 2
Sculptures

Shared Understanding Project Summary

Morehouse College's objective is to provide key support in giving critical voice to issues of identity and impact in contemporary art of Africa and the African Diaspora, by developing symposia, forums, conferences, workshops and other discursive vehicles around collections/exhibitions of relevant art. The Shared Understanding Project funded in part by NEH is the first workshop developed to realize the objective of the Arts Initiative. This initiative will be structured such that:

1. The College will become the repository of significant art of Africa and the African Diaspora.
2. The College will convene critical, interdisciplinary exchanges drawing upon national and international scholars and artists.
3. The College will integrate the study of art/art historical themes with relevant explorations in the social sciences, history, literature, sciences, psychology, and philosophy, thus engaging all departments of the college.
4. The College will support technology as a means of rendering the visual arts more accessible and understandable.

In this project, the college would review contemporary African and Diasporas art as visual productions of the current twenty-five year period. It will embrace the fact that the "meaning" of cultural products is still in turmoil, and the critical significance of various forms of contemporary cultural expression is still contested. Nevertheless, the vitality of such productions as well as the passionate discussions which they provoke constitutes the process by which "cultural meaning" is made. Thus, through its symposia and forums, the college will play a leading role in shaping a framework for understanding contemporary African and Diasporas art. At the same time, it will engage students, faculty, and greater community in the dynamic process of forming a shared cultural tradition.

Within this context, controversial issues can be debated and examined. It will be fully appreciated that probing ideas and issues is more important than the ultimate correctness of any particular critical judgment. The learning results from the dialogue. By its careful statement of topics and themes for exploration, by paralleling discussions with exhibitions of relevant works, the college will foster dynamic intellectual, critical and emotional growth while extending a living legacy being created in the studios and streets of Capetown, Kinshasa, Dakar, Addis Abaka, Kingston, Havana, Port-AR-Prince, as well as in Atlanta, Chicago, New York and Los Angeles.