Tag Archives: The Migration Series

Porchia Moore Phillips Conversation

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Porchia Moore leads a discussion in the “People on the Move: Beauty and Struggle in Jacob Lawrence’s Migration Series” galleries. All photos: Laura Hoffman

How do works in special exhibitions People on the Move: Beauty and Struggle in Jacob Lawrence’s Migration Series and Whitfield Lovell: The Kin Series and Related Works relate to current issues of racial injustice and discrimination? Porchia Moore visited the Phillips in November to tackle this question with Phillips visitors. See below for photos and a live-tweet of the conversation.

This was the second in a series of three open conversations that use The Migration Series as a jumping off point for discussions about current issues; join us for the third installment this Thursday with the DC Jazz Festival’s Sunny Sumter, who will be facilitating a discussion focuses on themes of identity, community, and what it means to be an American. See the storify of last month’s talk below. Follow along or join the conversation with #PhillipsConversation.

 

Tiffany Jones’s Panel 61

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The story of migration is ongoing. In the final, 60th panel of The Migration Series, Jacob Lawrence leaves us with the words “And the migrants keep coming.” The Phillips has invited contemporary artists to continue Jacob Lawrence’s work. Check the recently launched Jacob Lawrence website for additional works to be unveiled in this dynamic curated selection, or contribute your own #Panel61.

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Tiffany Jones, Migration by a New Generation (from unFaded), 2016. Mixed media on wood panel, 16 x 20 in.

Tiffany Jones, Migration by a New Generation (from unFaded)

JIM CROW: 1877–1960’s

GREAT MIGRATION: 1910–1970

Barbershops began defining their Black Space during the turn of the 20th century. The industry shifted from a service to whites into a foundation for the beginning of a black cultural movement. The number of black barbershops increased as a new generation considered the organization and safety of black communities.

Betye Saar’s Panel 61

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The story of migration is ongoing. In the final, 60th panel of The Migration Series, Jacob Lawrence leaves us with the words “And the migrants keep coming.” The Phillips has invited contemporary artists to continue Jacob Lawrence’s work. Check the recently launched Jacob Lawrence website for additional works to be unveiled in this dynamic curated selection, or contribute your own #Panel61.

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(left) Betye Saar, Migration: Africa to America I, 2006. Mixed media assemblage, 14 x 12 x 6 1/2 in. Courtesy of Betye Saar and Roberts & Tilton, Culver City, CA. Photograph by Tim Lanterman for Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (right) Betye Saar, Migration: Africa to America I, 2006. Mixed media assemblage, 14 x 12 x 6 1/2 in. Courtesy of Betye Saar and Roberts & Tilton, Culver City, CA. Photograph by Tim Lanterman for Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art

Betye Saar, Migration: Africa to America I, and Migration: Africa to America II 2006

In 17 mixed media collages and assemblages, Betye Saar (b. 1926) narrates 17 distinctive journeys. By layering carefully selected clues—a gold button, an African mask, a slave ship diagram, a weathered photograph, a pressed leaf, a tattered American flag—she constructs fictional biographies of nameless characters that represent the historical passages of millions. Haunted by memories of Africa or the trauma of the Middle Passage, Saar’s journeys remind us that history is not simply the recording of past events—it is a living, breathing entity, filling the space of our present and shaping contemporary identities.