Two generations after the passing of American icon Romare Bearden in 1988, The New School’s Institute on Race, Power, and Political Economy and the Vera List Center for Art and Politics, the Romare Bearden Foundation, and The Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers University combine forces to examine Bearden’s legacy under three distinct lenses: the impact of his activist work, especially his prints; the role of music in both his practice at large and the activist projects; and the resonance of his oeuvre in contemporary art making.
The multitier initiative In Common: Romare Bearden and New Approaches to Art, Race & Economy consists of a three-day symposium, an exhibition, and a forthcoming publication.
Featuring contemporary creative works and perspectives from socially-conscious, politically engaged BIPOC artists and commentators, the symposium will draw on Bearden’s activist legacy to spotlight the potent, yet still-too-rarely-acknowledged relationships between race, culture, economy, and the Common Good.
Through plenary discussions, live performances, and a striking new exhibition, we will investigate the themes of purposeful creativity, the artist as activist, BIPOC leadership in creative culture and economy, and much more.
In Common: Romare Bearden and New Approaches to Art, Race & Economy consists of a three-day symposium, an exhibition, and a forthcoming publication. Together they consider Bearden’s legacy and the significance of his art to contemporary realities and circumstances facing Black and other communities of color. Confirmed speakers and performers include Dwight Andrews, Rocío Aranda-Alvarado, Black Quantum Futurism, Angie Kim, Robert O’Meally, Mary Schmidt Campbell, Fayemi Shakur, and Eddie Torres.