Allen After Hours / Dawoud Bey in Conversation

Thursday, December 7, 2023 at 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.

Watch Recording

Chicago-based photographer and MacArthur fellow Dawoud Bey is best known for portraiture. More recently he has begun to address the question, “How can one reimagine and visualize African-American history? Make that history resonate in the contemporary moment.” This is the subject of his series of large-format photographs, Night Coming Tenderly, Black, titled after a poem by Langston Hughes. Focusing on unmarked sites on the Underground Railroad in Northeast Ohio, one work from the series in the Allen's collection is currently on view in an exhibition that centers community perspectives on Bey's work. For this event, Bey will be joined by Oberlin professor and poet Chanda Feldman who will explore the nuances of this history and the poetics of night.

Introduced with a musical performance by the Oberlin Gospel Choir, under the direction of La Tanya Hall.

This event is supported in part by the Oberlin College Art Department's Ellen Johnson Fund for Visiting Artists.

Access Statement:
This event will be held in a wheelchair- and rolling walker-accessible building. The lecture space is wheelchair accessible, with moveable seating, and near wheelchair-accessible restrooms. Restrooms are gender-specific; visitors are invited to use the restroom of their preference. Listening devices will be available for use during the presentation, but ASL interpretation will not be offered. Most talks will be recorded and available with closed captions on the museum’s Vimeo page after the event. Please email access questions to Jill Greenwood, jgreenwo@oberlin.edu.