FEBRUARY 23 // AFROFUTURISM: A VIRTUAL CONVERSATION
February is packed with exciting opportunities to connect through the humanities and celebrate Black History Month! From film screenings and panel discussions to conversations with artists and can’t miss exhibitions — grab a friend, colleague, or family member and plug into one of this month’s incredible events!
Discussants include Ytasha Womack, a Chicago-based filmmaker, dancer, independent scholar, and author of Afrofuturism: The World of Black Sci-Fi & Fantasy Culture (2013) and John Jennings, curator, scholar, design theorist, and author of several graphic novels including an adaptation of Octavia Butler’s Kindred. The conversation will help us understand where Afrofuturism comes from, why it has emerged again today as a popular aesthetic and philosophy, and how Afrofuturists and their ideas trace much of their genealogy to both Illinois and Chicago-based cultural scenes.
Register here.
The AFROFUTURISM program brings together texts and themes we have been exploring in the Illinois Humanities public book group series, Rememory: haunting, trauma, and historical fiction.
Book group registration: If you would like to register to join a book group, request a free book, or attend another Rememory public program, you can sign up here.
FEBRUARY 17, 2022 // APART FILM SCREENING
Illinois Humanities is partnering with WTTW to host a virtual screening and community discussion for the documentary Apart at 4:00 p.m. CT on Thursday, February 17th. The film shares the stories of three formerly incarcerated women as they participate in a prison program meant to prepare them for re-entering society upon release.
A screening of the film will be followed by a community conversation moderated by 2020 PHA award recipient Sylvia Ewing. The panel will include Reuben Jonathan Miller — Associate Professor, Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy and Practice at the University of Chicago; Colette Payne — Director of the Women’s Justice Institute Reclamation Project; and our very own Meredith Nnoka, Envisioning Justice Fellow.
Register here.
OPEN NOW // ILLINOIS FREEDOM PROJECT
The Illinois Freedom Project exhibition is now open at its final stop: the African-American Museum of Southern Illinois, Carbondale.
Produced by Looking For Lincoln, the exhibition examines the pursuit of civil rights by and for African Americans in Illinois, from the French Colonial era to early-20th-century Chicago. Open now through March 19.
The exhibition is touring the state in conjunction with Voices and Votes: Democracy in America, the latest Museum on Main Street exhibit from the Smithsonian which highlights America’s history of civic action and the results of that action. Voices and Votes: Democracy in America opened at its final stop on February 12, at the General John A. Logan Museum, Murphysboro.
View the exhibition map and schedules here.
FEBRUARY 25, 2022 // ARTISTS LIVE: RENALDO HUDSON
On February 25 at 12:00 p.m., join Renaldo Hudson, current Envisioning Justice Fellow with Illinois Humanities, and Indigo (Madi) Wright for a virtual Artists Live — a series of intimate dialogues which engage a diverse range of artists at different stages in their careers by examining their artistic practice and trajectory. The conversations explore a variety of topics as they reveal individual artists’ stories.
This program is organized in conjunction with the exhibition “Truth and Beauty in the Hard Places” on view at Café Logan in the Logan Center until April 1. The exhibition represents the culmination of year-long residencies by creatives Tara Betts and Renaldo Hudson, Inaugural “Poet/Artist for the People” Practitioners-in-Residence at the Center for the Study of Race, Politics, and Culture and the Pozen Center Human Rights Lab at the University of Chicago.
RSVP link: bit.ly/ArtistsLiveHudson
MARCH 2, 2022 // ARTISTS LIVE: DR. TARA BETTS
On March 2 at 5:00 p.m., join Dr. Tara Betts, current Envisioning Justice Fellow with Illinois Humanities, and Dr. Eve Ewing for a virtual Artists Live — a series of intimate dialogues which engage a diverse range of artists at different stages in their careers by examining their artistic practice and trajectory. The conversations explore a variety of topics as they reveal individual artists’ stories.
This program is organized in conjunction with the exhibition “Truth and Beauty in the Hard Places” on view at Café Logan in the Logan Center until April 1. The exhibition represents the culmination of year-long residencies by creatives Tara Betts and Renaldo Hudson, Inaugural “Poet/Artist for the People” Practitioners-in-Residence at the Center for the Study of Race, Politics, and Culture and the Pozen Center Human Rights Lab at the University of Chicago.
RSVP link: bit.ly/ArtistsLiveBetts
ACTIVATING THE HUMANITIES
Illinois Humanities, the Illinois affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, is a statewide nonprofit organization that activates the humanities through free public programs, grants, and educational opportunities that foster reflection, spark conversation, build community, and strengthen civic engagement. We provide free, high-quality humanities experiences throughout Illinois, particularly for communities of color, individuals living on low incomes, counties and towns in rural areas, small arts and cultural organizations, and communities highly impacted by mass incarceration.
Learn more at ilhumanities.org
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