“Hear Me Now: The Black Potters of Old Edgefield, South Carolina” was chosen as the study’s exhibit. The exhibition includes about 50 ceramic items from the Old Edgefield, South Carolina area, the center of pottery production in the decades before the Civil War, with a focus on the work of African-American potters in the American South in the 19th century in conversation with contemporary artistic responses (The MET).
The Hear Me Now exhibition includes large storage jugs, exceptional examples of the area’s utilitarian goods, mysterious face jars made by unknown artists, and unusual storage jugs. These artifacts provide witness to the lived experience, artistic ambition, and material knowledge of the enslaved peoples when seen through the prism of current studies in history, literature, anthropology, diaspora, and African American studies.
Being at the core of the historical and cultural relationship that gave rise to the black studies movement, multiculturalism, identity politics, culturally relevant education, and Afrocentrism entails exploring the nexus of black art and history. Essentially, it was one of the most fruitful and imaginative artistic eras in American history. The exhibition emphasized staging of the artifacts, which forges an emotional bond with the client. In addition, they may be observed in their natural environment, which is particularly significant given the exhibition’s and African-American history setting.
The foodways of the African diaspora are a meeting place for biology and culture, self-expression and survival, as well as enjoyment and pleasure (Marshall 78). The significance of taking food pathways into account in their entire social and cultural context. Essentially, the statistics from slave-holding areas show how slavery is forced, deprived, and constrained. These discoveries also serve as a reminder of the various ways that people who were under slavery exercised their free choice and claimed their humanity (Edwards 541). The pottery presentation adds to this history’s cultural component, closely linked to black people’s culinary customs. It represents another significant turning point.
Different demographic groups interested in this intriguing era of American society served as the exhibition’s target audience. People from various educational and cultural backgrounds see collections from multiple perspectives, which is significant in terms of understanding history from many perspectives. The relevance of such displays in terms of legitimacy and accessibility is something that both an anthropology and a historian agree on, despite their divergent perspectives on various elements of art exhibitions. The narrative of the exhibition reinforces the concept of image control. The pottery’s creator stressed and conceived his goal and struggled with specific items that also served practical purposes (Koverman 89).
The exhibition’s overarching goal is to convey that it is a tool and component for creating a community and defining an identity through a variety of strategies. Due to the methods employed, black visual culture is now significantly undervalued. The narrative of the readings has many similar views to the exhibition. Both readings and exhibition highlight the importance of the context as well as the value of the black craftsmanship in American history. Moreover, the emphasis on the settings and the multi-discipline approach, evident in readings and exhibition chosen, became the indicator of the growing interest in the topic, which is important for the intersection of art and Black history. This is reflected in stressing the audiovisual presentations, expanding awareness, and more scholarship in the area.
Overall, the story of the readings was integrated into this show and its displays. It emphasizes the value of black craftsmanship and aesthetic culture. Food, cutlery, and cooking tools all have a significant portion of cultural importance. Exhibits use a variety of viewpoints and a multi-approach style to depict a past that has mostly gone unrecorded. It demonstrates how larger societal systems of control and resistance were firmly ingrained in the food and cooking equipment requirements of people of African heritage in America.
Works Cited
Edwards, Thomas S. “Great & Noble Jar: Traditional Stoneware of South Carolina.” Southern Cultures, vol. 1, no. 4, 1995, pp. 502–553.
Hear Me Now: The Black Potters of Old Edgefield, South Carolina. The MET, 2022. Web.
Koverman, Jill Beute. “The Ceramic Works of David Drake, aka, Dave the Potter or Dave the Slave of Edgefield, South Carolina.” American Ceramic Circle Journal, vol. 13, no. 1, 2005, pp. 83-98.
Marshall, Lydia Wilson. “African Diaspora Foodways in Social and Cultural Context.” Journal of African Diaspora Archaeology and Heritage, vol. 9, no. 2, 2020, pp. 73–78.