12
BROOKLYN WEEKLY, AUGUST 25, 2019
EXHIBIT
own specialty.
“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, Stevie
Wonder’s album “Innervisions”
from 1973, which
includes the song “Heaven
Is 10 Zillion Light Years
Away,” and Brooklynite
N.K. Jemisin’s short story
collection “How Long ‘til
Black Future Month?”
The collection aims to
educate visitors on the current
state of black culture
and where it comes from,
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).
THEY GOT SOUL: Among the comic books on display at will be the fi rst issue of “Super Soul Comix”
from 1972.
BLACK AND WHITE: The extremely
rare anthology “All Negro
Comics No. 1,” published by
Orrin C. Evans in June of 1947,
will be on display as part of the
“History of Afrofuturism” exhibt
at the Brooklyn Antiquarian
Book Fair.
Continued from page 1
DARK FICTION: This collection
of essays and stories by W.E.B.
Du Bois is contains one of the
earliest examples of black
characters in science-fi ction.
Wendie Bowen
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/www.brook-lynbookfair.com