T
he burden of the history is something to keep in mind when face to face with
Kara Walker’s elegant, complex and challenging silhouettes depicting the
horrors of the antebellum South — images that have been described as
an “apocalyptic carnival” — that will be on display for the Jordan Schnitzer
Museum of Art’s upcoming exhibit Emancipating the Past: Kara Walker’s
Tales of Slavery and Power opening 6 pm Friday, Jan. 24. Emancipating
the Past is the fi rst-ever solo exhibit by an African-American artist at
the JSMA.
The New York-based artist’s blockbuster show, 60 works from the collection of JSMA’s
namesake Jordan Schnitzer, is important to Eugene for several reasons: On the surface, it’s a
reminder that contemporary art is alive, well and relevant. And that good contemporary art
can change minds and expose populations to diff ering perspectives in ways that no other
medium can. A show like Emancipating the Past is also an opportunity for a place like the
Willamette Valley to refl ect on its own racial history and politics through a national lens;
how local history — like that of Eugene’s 1951 cross burning targeting an interracial couple
— and more recent history — the 2008 bouts of blackface masked as “school spirit” at
Oregon State University — as well as the ongoing local celebration of Martin Luther
King Jr. Day, fi t into the national narrative and legacy of slavery, power and racism.
History is a burden we all share. It’s not Black History. It’s not Women’s History. Or
Gay History, or the History of the South. It’s everyone’s history.Welcome to the world
of Kara Walker. Our world.
‘THE EMANCIPATION APPROXIMATION’
eugeneweekly.com • January 16, 2014
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