Presence and Protest: Representations of Black Africans in the Paintings of the Uffizi Museum

Join us for a lecture entitled “Presence and Protest” by artist, educator, and curator Justin Randolph Thompson. The lecture draws upon “On Being Present,” a two-year research project dedicated to representations of Black Africans in the paintings and drawings of the collection of the Gallerie degli Uffizi and Palazzo Pitti, curated by Thompson for the Hypervisions online platform. Thompson will reflect upon institutional positionality and the fragility of facades designed to overlook a presence hidden in plain sight. What does it mean for the recognition of something as simple as presence in the visual archive to be capable of unsettling canons developed and upheld for centuries? What does it say to us about the role of institutions in caring for a more complete narration of their collections? In September of 2020 Thompson and the initiative that he co-founded and currently directs, Black History Month Florence, opened a Black cultural center in the heart of Florence called The Recovery Plan. This lecture grapples with what it means to recover from the abuse of these culturally induced oversights, while recovering fragments of history that are far from lost, they are simply in need of maintenance and care. Join our Zoom Meeting!! link below. To see the exhibition, go to: https://www.uffizi.it/en/online-exhibitions/on-being-present