ReSignifications: European Blackamoors, Africana Readings and More
Moderator:
Michael Gomez (New York University)
“While most of us arrived here from elsewhere by way of plane there is another body of Black Folk trying to get into Italy by way of rickety boats and unseaworthy vessels – thousands of whom have lost their lives”.
With these words Professor Michael Gomez opened the first
panel of presentations at the Black Portraiture{s} II conference as its moderator. In recognizing the plight of the tens of thousands of African migrants and refugees who are trying to enter Italy by crossing the Mediterranean Sea
Professor Gomez brings
into clear focus the longstanding issue of African migration in the relationship between Italy and Africa. The recent and massive increase in this migration has brought this issue to the forefront of the discussion of legality, morality, and modernity.
Professor Michael Gomez, – History Department
at NYU, has produced a highly regarded body of work on Africa and the African Diaspora including, “African Dominion” a two volume work on early and medieval West Africa. Gomez has published “Pragmatism in the Age of Jihad: The Precolonial State of Bundu”, “Exchanging Our Country Marks: The Transformation of African Identities in the Colonial and Antebellum South”, “Reversing Sail: A History of the African Diaspora”, “Diaspora Africa: A Reader”, and “Black Crescent: African Muslims in the Americas”.
“Resignifications: European Blackamoors, Africana
Readings and More”
Blackamoors and More: Blackamoor Statuary at NYU’s Villa La Pietra.
The Blackamoors are the highly stylized, decorative,
wood carvings of richly attired and bejeweled African men and women dressed as servants that seem to be ubiquitous in Italy today. These wooden statues were made to represent the African people who appeared in wealthy households of the rich and powerful in Renaissance Europe during the 15th century. The Blackamoor statues may have first been ‘mass produced’ among the high end wood furniture carvings in the 18th century studios of Andre Brustolon in Venice, Italy. Sculptured chiefly from ebony and boxwood, these centuries old relics of a bygone era still survive among the objects d’art of wealthy homeowners throughout the world today. Blackamoors are made today in wood as well as glass and ceramics. They are often encrusted with precious stones and cased in gold or silver and sold in jewelry stores.
Robert Holmes started his presentation on this topic with this provocative request.
“Will all the Blackamoors in the audience raise your hands? Not too many hands were raised. Why is that?”
In answer to his own provocation he related the following story. “I’ve been traveling in Europe for over 50 years. I’ve
been visiting the Villa La Pietra since 2001. From time to time
I’ve seen Blackamoor statues in museum shops and hotel lobbys .. but never so many as I saw at Villa La Pietra. In 2004 I happened to be seated next to Ellyn Toscano (the Executive Director) at the Villa. We had a conversation about
the Blackamoors. We knew about the name moors as a people who swept into Spain in the 8th century…but were expelled in the 15th century.” During the conversation Holmes and Toscano agreed that they had “never heard of the name being racialized during the occupation by the moors. “Never a mention of Whiteamoors”. Bob conjectured that Blackamoors is a “name invented to create a distinction between ourselves and those people who invaded Spain.
Holmes suggested that a way to further the conversation
and make the conversation more widely visible would be perhaps, to stage an exhibition in which the Blackamoors at the Villa were “juxtaposed with contemporary art pieces in a museum setting”. At that point Professor Awam Ampka, in a conversation with Ellyn Toscano heard of Bob Holmes’ Idea. Professor Ampka spoke to Professor Deborah Willis who had recently completed the very successful Black Portraitures I
Copenhagen, kStatens Museum for Kunst
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conference in Paris, France in 2013 and had not yet formulated a program for a second Black Portraitures conference. The moment could not have been more propitious!
Bob Holmes agreed to finance a mini planning session to be hosted by Ellyn Toscano at Villa La Pietra in the spring of 2014 to include Professors Deborah Willis and Awam Ampka along with a select group of artists and scholars, to plan an art exhibition that would highlight the Blackamoor collection at Villa La Pietra and be included as part of the Black Portraitures II conference. Professor Awam Ampka has curated the
Resignifications Exhibition. It has opened coincident with the opening of the Black Portraitures II Conference and now extends to three venues in Florence, Italy. The exhibition has received extensive media coverage and very positive critical review in Europe and in North America including the United States and Canada.
Robert Earnest Holmes earned a BA from Washington Square College and a JD from NYU School of Law. He practiced law in the entertainment department of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton, and Garrison. He received NYU’s
Alumni Achievement Award in 1998 and Washington Square College’s Alumni Distinguished Service Award in 1992. He is past President of the Black Entertainment and Sports Lawyers Association and is an original co-founder of the Black American Law Students Association. Holmes has served on the boards of the Constitutional Rights Foundation and the Liberace Foundation in Las Vegas.
