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By Chandler Kidd
Brooklyn Paper
The future is now!
An annual book fair focused on
antique volumes will also peek into
the future next month. The sixth annual
Brooklyn Antiquarian Book Fair,
returning to the Brooklyn Expo Center
in Greenpoint on Sept. 7, will feature
booksellers hawking first editions and
rare novels, along with seminars and art
exhibits, including one showcase titled
“One Day You’ll See: A History of Afrofuturism.”
The exhibit celebrates black characters
in science-fiction and futuristic
contexts, as featured in books, paintings,
posters, music, comic books, and
sculpture. The term “Afrofuturism” was
coined in 1993 by art critic Mark Dery
to refer to 20th Century literature that
combines African-American characters
and stories about technology, but one
of the show’s thee curators rejects that
definition as overly limiting.
“Afrofuturism is a membrane, it is
sort of something that anybody who is
of African descent can tap into. It is like
a realm of dreams, hopes and fears,”
said Brian Chidester.
The exhibition begins with a first edition
of the 1920 book “Darkwater,” by
W.E.B. Du Bois, which contains a short
story about a black man who is one of
the few people to survive a worldwide
apocalypse. From there the eclectic exhibition
includes more novels, images
of sci-fi landscapes, and comic books
and music album covers.
“We picked the pieces based on our
research and thinking about the subject
matter, for me that was dealing
with contemporary Afrofuturism, so I
stuck with comics,” said Stacey Robinson,
one of the three curators. Among
the black superheroes in the exhibit will
be Black Panther, who hails from a secret
high-tech African society; strongman
Luke Cage; and supernatural hero
Brother Voodoo.
The curators are especially excited
about a spaceship sculpture created by
Kambel Smith, a contemporary artist
from Philadelphia, inside of which
will play a 17-minute video detailing
his imaginary world. Other gems include
original paintings and comic strips
by Charles Williams, who invented his
own black superheroes in the 1950s and
’60s, and Stevie Wonder’s album “Innervisions”
from 1973, which includes
the song “Heaven Is 10 Zillion Light
Years Away.”
The collection aims to educate visitors
on the current state of black culture,
Robinson said.
“The exhibit is a way of speculating
about black art. There’s always elements
inside Afrofuturism that examine the
past, examine past political movements,
while celebrating popular culture, but
also speculate about the future based on
the politics of the present,” he said.
The Brooklyn Antiquarian Book Fair
at the Brooklyn Expo Center (72 Noble
St. at Franklin Street in Greenpoint,
www.brooklynbookfair.com). Sept.
7–8; Sat, noon–7 p.m.; Sun, 11 a.m.–5
p.m. $10–$15 ($5–$10 in advance).
Black
to the
future
Afrofuturist art
in Greenpoint
Wired in: (Clockwise from top) This painting “Santeria the Goddess”
by Stefano Fortis, will be on display in the Afrofuturism exhibit at the
Brooklyn Antiquarian Book Festival on Sept. 7–8. Among the comic
books on display will be the first issue of “Super Soul Comix” from
1972. This collection of essays and stories by W.E.B. Du Bois contains
one of the earliest examples of black characters in science-fiction.
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