Free as They Want to Be: Artists Committed to Memory
Free as They Want to Be: Artists Committed to Memory explores contemporary artists engaging with the past to shape Black futures. Co-curated by Cheryl Finley, Ph.D., and Deborah Willis, Ph.D., the show features works that reclaim history, honor ancestral narratives, and challenge conventional archives through photography, sculpture, video, and mixed media. Ethelbert Cooper Gallery of African & African American Art. Runs through June 30, 2025.
This exhibition takes place at The Ethelbert Cooper Gallery of African & African American Art, Hutchins Center for African & African American Research, Harvard University, 102 Mount Auburn Street, Cambridge, MA 02138. Runs through June 30, 2025.
Exhibition Description
Originally presented at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center as part of the 2022 FotoFocus Biennial, Free as They Want to Be brings together artists whose works serve as acts of remembrance and resistance. The exhibition highlights how Black artists use visual culture to assert agency over historical narratives, engaging with themes of memory, identity, and liberation. Through photography, archival interventions, and experimental media, the featured artists examine how the past informs contemporary Black life, offering new pathways for understanding history as a living, evolving force. Ethelbert Cooper Gallery of African & African American Art. Runs through June 30, 2025.
Gallery
