Introduction
Exhibits are public displays in art galleries or museums where the intended audience learns more about the artist’s idea. The exposition consisted of images representing three poems from “Counting Descent” by Clint Smith. The poems illustrated how the world is passed, what the ocean said to the black boy, and what the cicada said to the black boy. Exhibitions are hosted to familiarize visitors with the issues (Boonchutima et al., 2022). The display portrayed a black male figure struggling to rise from a deep hole, while white people passed by the hole without offering help. The exhibition represents the society we live in, where black people are seen as inferior to whites.
Discussion
The presence of a black man and white people in the exhibit showed that society is divided and racism still affects how easily people access social amenities. The deep hole showed how black people were not recognized in society, yet they brought the most benefits. Enslaved Black people provided merchants with profit and prestige and households with women’s services (Delvaux, 2022). When making laws and passing motions in parliament, the black community was discriminated against and struggled to get recognized. The presence of white people passing by in the exhibit depicted that society barely cares about other people’s struggles. White people only cared about themselves and how to increase their power above black men.
Conclusion
The exhibit was linked to collective trauma, where black people were enslaved and discriminated against in society. Black people were put in situations where they would be in trouble, punished, and had to suffer from discrimination and limited access to basic needs. People showed a high level of positive self-efficacy despite the collective traumatic experiences that they had gone through (Mahamid, 2020). The creation of the exhibit helped interact with terms and vocabularies used in the exhibition, such as assembly, erecting an exhibit from its components, and association, which is an organization of people sharing common interests. Learning such terms was crucial and increased the artist’s knowledge on focusing an exhibit on the right audience and creating an exhibit that got the audience’s attention.
References
Boonchutima, S., Ratanavadi, S., Chaowjirakit, R., & Prayotamornkul, K. (2022). Application of interactive sensory art exhibition in promoting the Protection of Endangered Species: The Elephant Tales. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 44, 101017. Web.
Delvaux, M. (2022). That most precious merchandise: The Mediterranean trade in Black Sea slaves, 1260–1500, written by Hannah Barker. Medieval Encounters, 27(6), 515–518. Web.
Mahamid, F. A. (2020). Collective trauma, quality of life and resilience in narratives of third generation Palestinian refugee children. Child Indicators Research, 13(6), 2181–2204. Web.