Reclaiming Our Hands: Reclaiming Our Art

On view at the Rudenstine Gallery at the Hutchins Center

104 Mount Auburn Street, Floor 3R, Cambridge, MA

HOURS
Through May 31: Tuesday-Friday, 10am-4pm
Starting June 3: By appointment only

For viewing outside of posted hours, please contact Stephen Hamilton (shamilton@g.harvard.edu ) and Kyera Singleton (director@royallhouse.org ).

Reclaiming Our Hands is an art education collaboration organized by scholars Stephen Hamilton and Kyera Singleton in partnership with the Hutchins Center’s History Design Studio and the Royall House and Slave Quarters, which was owned by Isaac Royall Sr. (1672-1739), the richest plantation owner in 18th century Massachusetts.

The project explores the relationships between pre-colonial Africa, post-colonial Africa, and the African diaspora through the resonances of material culture. Hands-on workshops provided insight into the crucial roles that African labor and knowledge played in the making of America, highlighting often overlooked histories of enslavement and colonial exploitation in Massachusetts. Last summer, the project brought together teen artists and makers of African descent to explore how complex histories of enslavement in the Americas shaped textile, fiber-craft, and costume traditions. The Reclaiming Our Hands: Reclaiming Our Art exhibition is a capstone of the student’s creative expression and learning.

Launched in 2005, the Neil L. and Angelica Zander Rudenstine Gallery is an integral part of the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research and regularly features the work of leading contemporary artists such as Jules Arthur, Vinnie Bagwell, Michelle Browder, Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons, Lynn Davis, Lyle Ashton Harris, and Carrie Mae Weems.