For centuries Black women in the west have done transformative political work, but their efforts are just now being fully explored and celebrated. The Brooklyn Museum is lifting visionary women in a new exhibit featuring photography, painting, sculpture, and print-making called We Wanted a Revolution: Black Radical Women 1965-1985.
The show runs until September 17, and features work from Black women artists like Emma Amos, Faith Ringgold, and Betye Saar.
Co-curator Rujeko Hockley explains that the collection is an attempt to make sure that Black women are not only mentioned in conversations of feminist work and production, but centered.
It also highlights the many layers of political action.
"Another thread of the show is the connection between art and activism," Hockley explained. "The same way that these women were thinking through their various identities, they were also thinking about art inextricably linked to politics."
In addition, the curators have put together a book filled with the documents they consulted to put together the exhibit.