Thursday, December 5, 2019
5:30pm – 6:30pm
Petteruti Lounge, Stephen Colbert '62 Campus Center
The slave ship icon was a galvanizing image for abolitionists in the 18th century. Today this important historic image continues to be evoked in moments of remembrance and resistance. Dr. Cheryl Finley, Associate Professor of Art History at Cornell University, will discuss her groundbreaking work on how visual representations of the slave ship have mapped modern understandings of Atlantic slavery, in particular within Black art and activism well into the twentieth century. She indexes the uses of the slave ship image within British and American abolitionist movements and illuminates their role in enacting Black resistance and identity. In her keynote address, Dr. Finely will provide a close analysis of contemporary Black art, displaying how it is intricately connected to iconic images of the slave ship.
Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice