As you walk into the gallery, you are met with walls adorning black letters. They face you immediately, leaving space to ease you in. To your right and slightly behind you is a portrait of villagers. Their eyes pierce through the room. They seem to want to tell you what they know, and what they have lived through. They warn you to be fearless, hug you for making it this far, and encourage you to keep fighting.
As you turn away, the name of the exhibition stands directly in front of you. Bold black letters against the white wall read Those We Thought We Knew. Below it, Reimagined appears quieter, almost hesitant. The contrast feels intentional. What we think we know announces itself loudly. Reimagining asks you to listen more closely.
The exhibition is inspired by David Joy’s novel Those We Thought We Knew and is dedicated to the artist Marie T. Cochran. It offers a visual memory of the African American experience in Appalachia, one that refuses to be flattened or simplified. To the left of this is a word cloud of black letters describing their experience: southerner, below region, below chocolate, below individuals, below defies, below banjo, below white. The variety of the words speaks to the variety of their experiences, their sizes connoting vitality, with Black standing out in the biggest, boldest letters.
Across the room, when you look down, you are met with a bowl holding clay feet, with a strand of hair emerging from it. The piece feels like an origin, a beginning. Bowls often symbolize birth, offering, or continuity, and here it speaks to the start of life and memory.
Nearby, banners reading uMunthu stand around an open space. The word translates broadly to a person or humanity in several African languages and philosophies, rooted in the idea that one becomes human through others. The phrase alone brought about a sense of unity and connection as I stood there for the first time in awe of the power of such simplicity.
The exhibition occupies only two rooms, yet it holds far more than its physical space suggests. It asks you to slow down and reconsider what you think you know. I left feeling both grounded and unsettled in the best way. I encourage anyone who has the chance to venture out and see it.
-Grace Ifiegbu