Repossessions
"Repossessions is a group exhibition inspired by the concept of reparations: the effort to repair the economic and psychological devastation caused by slavery for descendants of enslaved African Americans.
It presents the work of five Black artists commissioned to create artworks based on documents from the enslavement and sharecropping eras in the United States. Chelle Barbour, Marcus Brown, Rodney Ewing, Kenyatta A.C. Hinkle (Olomidara Yaya), and Curtis Patterson each offer insightful ways to understand the significance of the original documents, which were offered to the artists by white families working toward repair through an initiative of The Reparations Project in collaboration with Reparations4Slavery and date from the 1860s to the early 1900s."
California African American Museum
On exhibition through August 2025
Learn More About How Repossessions Was Conceived
“A question comes to mind: who owns history? What documents are in Black archives vs. white archives? What happens when a group of people encounters something that is not in their family’s possession but is connected to them in some way? Repossessions is a way for Black artists to take objects out of white archives that relate to Black history and make commentaries on them.”
Bridget R. Cooks, PhD
Educator, Curator
"The artists sliced these pieces of ephemera open and let out a deeper truth. They also somehow released a feeling I’ve had - that my ancestors are urging me to tell more of what really happened..."
Sarah Eisner
The Reparations Rroject
"Repossessions, the artwork in the show, will open the minds of both Black people and white people to the truth. Even just looking at the descriptions of the artwork could result in an open discussion."
Randy Quarterman
The Reparations Project
I believe that my ancestor, W.H. Paxton, was asking for reparations from the state of Mississippi in the pages of his ledger. Seeing Curtis Patterson and Marcus Brown transform those pages into artworks invoking reparative justice for the enslaved - it's a perfect mirroring.
Lotte Lieb Dula
Reparations4Slavery
