The University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA) held its second event in “Feel good Friday”March 11 with the participation of oral language, poetry and music. This event was the second in a series that began last month show on the runway celebrating diversity in fashion.
In collaboration with the university Department of African American and African Studies (DAAS) and Washington County African American Cultural History Museum (AACHM), this part of Feel Good Friday is dedicated to the African diaspora and the history of African art.
UMMA Program Coordinator Jessica Eli described the significance of this Friday’s Feel Good for participants and artists.
“In particular, we are highlighting good voices at this event,” Eli said. “We really want to enhance the word (s) of poetry as well as the act of remembering and honoring our teachers and the people who really helped us become the people we are today.”
DAAS Program Manager Elizabeth James spoke about the importance of this event for the department and for the UM community.
“I think every time you have different groups, like the Museum of African American Culture and History, our department that serves our students on campus, and then also UMMA, which is dedicated to our community and our community on campus, it’s just mix nicely, ”James said.
Among the works of art presented at this event was a permanent exhibition of UMMA entitled “We are writing to you about Africa”And a piece of the latter John Onye Lockard, a founding member of the DAAS University faculty. The event also drew attention to the UMMA exhibition on the ethics of museum African art of the colonization era with a project entitled “I wish you were here”, Which invites patrons to watch 11 works by unknown artists, as well as film, television clips and documents.
Shira Washington, recruitment coordinator for the College of Engineering, said she was delighted that the university supports African art and artists.
“I have never seen anything so profound but concise and concise to present African art on such a scale,” Washington said. “Seeing so many dynamic works by both future artists and famous classic artists really warmed my heart when I saw the University of Michigan dedicated to supporting something like this.”
In the evening there was a series of oral and poetic performances by local artists and members of the UM community, many of whom paid tribute to Lockard. Senior Course in Music, Theater and Dance Jacob Ward spoke orally, expressing how he sees himself and his emotions in Lockard’s work.
“Here before me was the spirit of someone who, like me, had to express the full range of their emotions through something constructive and destructive at the same time,” Ward said in his work.
In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Ward said that evening he felt uplifted and amazed by the art and the artists around him.
“Being black at UMich … is hard,” Ward said. “And on nights like these, I feel like I can do it. I don’t feel burdened. ”
The Daily Staff correspondent Samantha Rich can be contacted at sammrich@umich.edu.