Promise, Witness, Remembrance is an art exhibition to reminisce on the life of Breonna Taylor, her killing by police officers in 2020, and the year of protests that followed. This exhibition is set to run from April 7 – June 6, 2021, at the Speed Art Museum, Louisville, Kentucky.
As indicated in the title, this exhibition focuses on three main topics: Promise, Witness, and Remembrance. In the first gallery, the artists explore ‘the symbolic representations of a nation and its promise’. They think about how the promise has changed and shifted over time. It provokes some questions, such as: “What does the promise of the United States mean to its citizens? For whom are these rights afforded? How do we ensure that these rights are protected in the future?”. This gallery shows Ed Hamilton’s soldier sculpture that represents ‘the African American soldiers and sailors who fought during the Civil War’, The Star Spangled Banner: A Hymnal by Bethany Collins, and We the People by Nari Ward.
Ed Hamilton, Untitled, 2000. Courtesy of the Artist. https://www.promisewitnessremembrance.org/experience/
The second gallery highlights the witnesses of the unprecedented and historic moment in which the global pandemic coincides with the police brutality and violence against Black and Brown communities. This gallery displays various artworks of the witnesses, from “Terry Adkins’ monumental sculpture to visual documentation of recent protests created by Louisville-based photographers”.
T.A. Yero, Who has the power?, June 15, 2020, 8:04 pm, Breonna Taylor Memorial at Jefferson Square Park, Louisville, KY. Courtesy of the artist. https://www.promisewitnessremembrance.org/experience/
The third gallery presents the remembrance of Breonna Taylor’s life. This gallery includes Breonna Taylor’s portrait painting by Amy Sherald, Butterfly Eyes (for Breonna Taylor) by María Magdalena Campos-Pons, and other works.
Amy Sherald, “Breonna Taylor”, 2020
© Amy Sherald. Courtesy of Amy Sherald. Photo: Joseph Hyde. https://www.promisewitnessremembrance.org/experience/
This exhibition is pivotal to maintain public memory of Black communities’ struggle and to keep open up the discussion about humanity ideals that have shifted from time to time.
Exhibition Programs and Ticket Reservation can be accessed on https://www.promisewitnessremembrance.org/
María Magdalena Campos-Pons, “Butterfly Eyes (for Breonna Taylor) from the series In the year of the pandemic”, in the month of the awakening, 2021. Courtesy of the artist and Wendi Norris Gallery, San Francisco. https://www.promisewitnessremembrance.org/experience/