Real Change, the Seattle-based newspaper focused on economic, social, and racial justice, reviewed the exhibition Emancipating the Past: Kara Walker's Tales of Slavery and Power, currently on view at the Bellevue Arts Museum. Drawn from the collections of philanthropist Jordan D. Schnitzer and the Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation, the exhibition encompasses three narrative portfolio series of silhouettes that each tell a story, laser-cut steel sculptures, a film and stand-alone works.
“Challenging, impactful, and often difficult, but important and relevant,” is how BAM Curator of Craft Jennifer-Navva Milliken described the exhibition to Real Change. “It’s gone to a lot of venues where the audiences are not necessarily African-American. There’s really a White community in which this exhibition has been inserted. It’s been a very powerful tool for education, conversation, challenging dialogues and increased awareness through art.”
Real Change reporter Lisa Edge writes, "Walker’s artwork focuses on a dark time in American history — slavery, the Civil War and reconstruction. She doesn’t gloss over the subject; rather, she confronts it head-on in a way that could leave people uncomfortable but unable to look away."
Emancipating the Past is on view through November 27th.
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