Talk: Isaac Julien and The Black Archives
On Saturday 9 October, Isaac Julien spoke with Mitchell Esajas and Isabelle Britto of The Black Archives about archiving black history. They focused on important historic figures such as the American abolitionist Frederick Douglass, while discussing American and Dutch histories of slavery. How do we deal with these histories in our present time and what understanding did Black Lives Matter protests bring forth? You can watch the talk below.
During the event we also had the honor to host the official book launch of Isaac Julien’s new catalogue Lessons of the Hour – Frederick Douglass. Isaac Julien presented the very first special edition of the catalogue to Stijn Huijts, director of the Bonnefanten Museum in Maastricht.
ABOUT Isaac Julien
Sir Isaac Julien, CBE RA is a critically acclaimed British artist and filmmaker. In 2018, Julien joined the faculty at the University of California Santa Cruz where he is a distinguished professor of the arts and leads the Isaac Julien Lab together with Arts Professor Mark Nash. Current and recent international solo exhibitions include: Isaac Julien: Lina Bo Bardi — A Marvellous Entanglement, CentroCentro (Panorama Madrid), Madrid, Spain, on view until 29 August 2021; Isaac Julien: Lessons of the Hour, McAvoy Foundation for the Arts, San Francisco (2020–2021); Isaac Julien: Lina Bo Bardi — A Marvellous Entanglement, MAXXI, Rome (2020–2021); Isaac Julien: Western Union: Small Boats, Neuberger Museum, New York (2020); Isaac Julien: Frederick Douglass: Lessons of the Hour, SCAD Museum of Art, Savannah (2019); Looking for Langston at Tate Britain (2019); and Playtime at LACMA (2019). Julien has previously exhibited at venues including Museum of Modern Art, New York (2013), Art Institute of Chicago (2013), Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego (2012), and Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris (2005). Julien is the recipient of The Royal Academy of Arts Charles Wollaston Award 2017 and was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2017.
Isaac Julien was born in 1960, London, UK
He lives and works in London, UK and Santa Cruz, CA