A Beautiful Struggle: Black Feminist Futurism
Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts | Grand Rapids, Michigan
A Beautiful Struggle: Black Feminist Futurism is an interdisciplinary contemporary art exhibition that explores the integration of Black feminist and Afrofuturist ideas.
Afrofuturism is a creative and cultural framework that reimagines the past and envisions the future through perspectives of the African diaspora. It often engages themes of identity, escapism, magical realism, and technology. Black feminism, meanwhile, centers the experiences and perspectives of those who are both Black and female. Examining Afrofuturism through a Black feminist lens is vital, as it challenges the historically exclusionary tendencies of both Black nationalism and mainstream feminism, embracing instead the intersectionality of Black womanhood.
Rather than using imagined worlds as a means of escape from oppression, marginalization, or invisibility, this exhibition expands upon the unique characteristics of Black womanhood and the ways these attributes can be celebrated. By foregrounding Black women’s experiences without overt depictions of oppression, A Beautiful Struggle centers self-defined identities, asserting agency rather than responding to imposed narratives.
Afrofuturism fosters a continual dialogue between past, present, and future, reflecting the ever-evolving nature of cultural creation. Accordingly, this exhibition presents visions of Black feminist empowerment unconstrained by linear time. All temporalities coexist, reimagined through Black feminist perspectives and used as instruments of liberation and self-definition.
Through this exhibition, artists negotiate reimagined pasts, contemporary realities, and envisioned futures, emphasizing the urgent need to elevate voices within the African diaspora, particularly those that have been most silenced: the voices of Black women.
Participating Artists:
Firelei Báez | Elizabeth Catlett | Tawny Chatmon | D. Denenge Duyst-Akpem | Krista Franklin | Ja’Tovia Gary | Jessi Jumanji | Brianna McCarthy | Helina Metaferia | Aïda Muluneh | Wangechi Mutu | Dawn Okoro | Bre’Ann White | Saya Woolfalk | Alisha Wormsley
