“Everything I do is a love letter to Black people and Black culture. Afrofuturism is a way for me to show that,” said Juanita Sunday at the “Into the Afroverse Vol I” event in Cummings Art Center on Saturday, Feb.18. After a casual viewing of the exhibition titled “6th Dimension,” attendees were treated to an immersive afternoon of performances, film, and discussion with featured artists. As the curator, Sunday’s newest artistic venture blends visual art with technology in a dynamic representation of Black futures across time and space. Sunday returns to Cummings after successfully developing and installing a show in 2021 styled as “NAPPY,” which celebrated the expression of Blackness through hair.
Using the word “exhibition” to describe the experience that Juanita Sunday and her eleven chosen artists have created feels disembodied. The pieces staged in Cummings investigate the temporality of Black futures through a diverse variety of mediums inspired by science fiction and afrofuturism. The display includes everything from a playable version of “Space Invaders” on an early Apple Macintosh computer to 3D animated landscapes to digital prints inspired by African tribal masks. The “Into the Afroverse” event served as an introduction to the complexity and reach of this shared project through the showing of a short film, poetry reading, artist panel, and special performance.
“When people ask me, ‘what do you want people to take away from this?’ I say that I want people to think about how to break free of colonized thinking,” Sunday said in her welcome speech. “But also I want to create because I want to see people interact with art. I want to see people connect with my art.”
“Into the Afroverse Vol I” also supplied an artist’s panel and Q&A with Sunday and three featured artists, Ira Revels, Greg Aimé, and AnUrbanNerd, who sat down and took a deep dive into their processes, influences, personal and ancestral history.
“As a young Black male it was never easy for me to envision my future,” said Greg Aimé, a Haitian-American visual artist. “I appreciate and love this space because it’s forward thinking and melanin-centered.”
Not only is the “6th Dimension” exhibit a visceral, fantastical homage to the importance of visualizing Black futures, but it also provides a fresh and exciting take on extending and imagining the reach of Black influence in a way that empowers and invigorates other Black creators. Through a wash of steampunk prints and digitized animation, the representation of Blackness in science fiction is a major focus of this production. The interactive nature of many of the pieces allows viewers to physicalize the versatile Black future and take its envisage with them into the real world.
It is a timely exhibition given all that’s transpired with the resignation of Dean Rodmon King in the past two weeks. More than ever, Conn College needs to be showcasing and supporting Black artists, innovators, and entrepreneurs.
Do your part by visiting and absorbing “6th Dimension,” which is on view in the Cummings Art Center until March 9.
The “6th Dimension” series continues with the “Quantum Black” performance at the Garde Arts Center at 6:30pm on February 23rd. •
Wonderful article, Ms. Markey.
What Linda said.