The Amistad Center’s Digging Deeper exhibit is not to be missed.
That I can get into the Wadsworth Atheneum, where the Amistad Center is housed, for free has been a bonus as I have had a crush on the curiosity cabinets within the Faith & Fortune exhibit. Now, just a few steps away, there are other interpretations of the curiosity cabinet. These collections include an Afro pick, Obama wristwatch, and other types of artifacts/memorabilia.
As I walked through, I triggered an art piece to spin and flash. There are signs posted warning about a strobe light, but I assumed it’d be on when I entered, and not something that I would make happen. It was unnerving.
There are a number of pieces in this exhibit, but the one I found to be the most powerful and the reason I am urging people to visit is a collection of postcards and photographs. I’ve seen these types of images before, but maybe two or three at a time. That’s quite different from being in a partial room, surrounded by them. That’s when I began to understand the pervasiveness of these images in American culture at one time.
Someone recently passed this video link on to me:
The image on the can is not as blatant as those in the postcards, but one would be in denial to pretend that the image was not a watered down version of racist caricatures. There are hundreds of postcards in the exhibit, some of which have messages written on the backs. If you have but twenty minutes to spend in the Wadsworth Atheneum, go directly to this part of the exhibit.
