Author: Camara Dia Holloway

I am the Project Manager for the Romare Bearden Digital Catalogue Raisonné at the Wildenstein Plattner Institute. I earned my PhD at Yale University in the History of Art Department and specialize in twentieth century American art with a particular focus on the history of photography, race and representation, and transatlantic modernist networks. I also serve as a Founding Co-Director of the Association for Critical Race Art History (ACRAH).

On This Day In 1863 . . .

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StGaudens

…in 1863, the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, the first black regiment from the North, paraded in full dress uniform on Boston Common. Crowds cheered as 1,007 black soldiers and 37 white officers passed in review. After ceremonies at the State House, they marched to Battery Wharf and boarded steamships for South Carolina. Just seven weeks later, 74 men and their commanding officer, Robert Gould Shaw, were killed in an heroic assault on Fort Wagner. On Memorial Day 1897, 60 veterans of the 54th were among hundreds of people who gathered on the Common for the unveiling of Augustus Saint-Gaundens’ Memorial to Robert Shaw and the 54th Massachusetts Regiment. This statue remains one of the great works of public art in the country.On This Day...

Background

From the very beginning of the Civil War, African American men sought to enlist in the Union Army. Their requests were denied. This was a “white…

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Pinning My Inquietudes/Hopes for Art History

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Lately I’ve been revising my Pinterest boards so that they engage key concerns I have about art history. Pinterest boards-May 2013I began using Pinterest, an online customizable set of bulletin boards, last summer when I taught History of Photography.  The boards for arth318snapshot served as a resource for my undergraduate students and broader publics.  I later started my own artstuffmatters‘ set of boards. Initially it focused mainly on books about various subject areas.  I didn’t really do much with it.  However, I recently had a “eureka moment” that sparked a different, more passionate direction.

Last fall at the Imagining America October 2012 conference, I heard a presentation that continues to inspire and challenge me.  Dr. Marta Vega, Executive Director and Founder of the Caribbean Cultural Center and African Diaspora Institute, centered her address on “inquietudes,” things that make one feel ill at ease, in relationships between academia and the…

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Trends in Contemporary Nigerian Art Talk @ SOAS

africanartinlondon's avatarAfrican Art in London

Two of Nigeria’s most distinguished contemporary artists will be at the School of Oriental and African Studies this Thursday.

Ben Osaghae and Fidelis Odogwu, both alumni of Nigeria School of Art Polytechnic in Edo State will be discussing trends in contemporary Nigerian art.

Ben Osaghae has been described as a ‘social chronicler’. His paintings, drawings and mixed media creations contemplate the mundaneness of daily life. A discerning colourist, his work is often identified by bright figures floating on the wide, flat surface of his canvas. Osaghae’s work is often charged with political opinion revealing of his frustrations with regards to the development of his country.

Fidelis Odogwu is a sculptor who works within the visual narratives of Nigerian art, using repetitive designs and traditional motifs. Odogwu is able to transform masses of metal into objects that look fit for astral travel. He is a master of shape and symmetry using zig-zags, spirals…

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Photojournalism: Restaveks, the “Ultimate Have-Nots in a Society of Have-Nots”

Call for Papers: New Voices – Art and Decolonization

Looks like our CAA panel, “Subaltern Rising,” was very timely. Here is an event exploring similar themes.

Bermuda’s ACE showcases heritage with Anna Lefroy’s botanical paintings