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An
Exhibit For The Ages
Forgotten
Worlds: Lost Chapters in Global Black History
By
Phalana Tiller
You've
seen them. Faces peering out from nature magazines of people deep in Pacific
island forests whose hair and skin speaks loudly of a memory of Africa.
Images on ancient Indian scrolls of deities whose features distinctly
ring of Nubian origins. Colossal sculptures hidden for centuries in Mexican
hillsides and carved in the form of African faces.
You've wondered. How did they get there? Who are they? What are the stories
behind these scattered African images?
"Forgotten Worlds: Lost Chapters in Global Black History" answers
some of these questions. Through the use of historical texts, archival
photography, technical drawings and ambient sound, "Forgotten Worlds.
. ." resurrects some hidden details of our collective human history.
This multimedia exhibit tells the stories of people whose African origins
are obvious, but that have been systematically excluded from the common
Western historical lexicon. We simply don't know about these stories,
and we simply don't talk about them.
Take a simple poll. Ask your most knowledgeable friend, relative or teacher.
It is likely that few or none will, for example, recognize the name Fu
Hao. Over 3,000 years ago, Fu Hao, a Black female general, led Chinese
troops into battle and to victory over the Tu Fang dynasty. This woman
appears in numerous sources and records from the era, but even when informally
queried, few of the Western scholars of Chinese history polled for this
article seemed to be familiar with her. She has become part of our forgotten
world.
_______________________________
According
to the historian Pliny, when Julius Caesar's legions arrived in the
Isles, they discovered two distinct types of people living there.
One group "fair haired and fair skinned" the other were
as "Black as Ethiopians."
_______________________________
Also
illuminated by "Forgotten Worlds . . ." is the record of Africans
in the British Isles as early as 50BC. According to the historian Pliny,
when Julius Caesar's legions arrived in the Isles, they discovered two
distinct types of people living there. One group "fair haired and
fair skinned" the other were as "Black as Ethiopians."
Even as commonly used as are terms such as "Black Irish",
few people today acknowledge or associate the origin of darker skinned
Britons as actually being from African people. Again common awareness
of such a connection is all but forgotten.
From Mexico, the creators of "Forgotten Worlds" unearthed
the images and stories of sculptures whose features clearly suggest
an African origin. These images date to long before the arrival of Columbus
and complicate, or negate, the idea that Africans only made significant
contact with the Americas as a result of the slave trade. These faces
represent yet another forgotten chapter.
Discussing the presence of "Africans" in China, the British
Isles or Mexico during these periods requires the acknowledgment that
global movement of Africans began long before that resulting from involuntary,
or slave, migration; the latter typically viewed as the sole cause of
African migration. "Forgotten Worlds . . . ", aims to present
stories, sounds and images to help people understand this concept, this
fact. The suggestion that Africans have been a player and contributor
in global history on a voluntary and equitable basis is at the heart
of the project's objectives. Through exposure to the exhibit, its evidence
and its examples, the creators hope to imbue viewers of all backgrounds
with a sense of pride and ownership of a long-shar! ed history of exchange
between people.
The creators of "Forgotten Worlds . . . ", Christian Rogers
and Scott Neumann, have been close friends since meeting at college
over ten years ago. They have spent countless hours over the past 5
years conceiving, incubating and giving birth to this exhibit. Each
man came to the project with his own set of personal and professional
aspirations, which fueled the long-fought effort to realize their shared
goal.
Scott Neumann is a Black man who as a child was adopted and raised by
a white Jewish family. His life within the context of a liberal, mostly
white community near the nation's capitol taught him that, "anything
was possible, regardless of color". He grew to understand racists
as "ignorant people with deep-seated, personal insecurities",
but even with that, he managed to recognize and "internalize a
certain American disdain for Black people and culture". Upon entering
the University of Virginia, where he earned an undergraduate degree,
he discovered that this simplified view would not suffice in negotiating
the complex terrain of race relations at a typical American university.
Not until a semester spent studying in Spain was Scott exposed to a
cultural perspective that admires and exalts American diversity, particularly
the African American component of that diversity. He realized that taking
a step outside of his culture, his familiar context, would be an opportunity
to see more clearly the positive and attractive aspects of Blackness.
Most importantly to Scott, he returned to the states with the awareness
that racism could never be sufficiently addressed or eliminated through
"color-blindness". Color and difference would need to be recognized,
before they could be effectively understood and respected.
After taking a post as a fifth grade teacher in a New York City public
schools, Scott found that the task of teaching pride and respect for
all races would be a task of grand proportions. In particular, he felt
that between the school curricula and the external influences of the
popular imagery in commercial media, he was battling a force with a
tremendous impact on his students. Conveying the sense of majesty and
wonder of Blackness, as he had seen in Spain and in other travels, would
be difficult given the tools he had.
Out of this need were born the first, embryonic themes for "Forgotten
Worlds . . ." After teaching, Scott pursued a Master's degree from
New York University in photography and mass communications. It was there
that he became further consumed with "the development of an effective
means of conveying vivid and exciting details of obscure aspects of
Black history."
_______________________________
"The
suggestion that Africans have been a player and contributor in global
history on a voluntary and equitable basis is at the heart of the
project's objectives."
_______________________________
Like
Neumann, Christian Rogers came to the development of the project through
a personal journey of cultural exchange and discovery. Born to an Italian
mother and British father, Rogers was raised in both countries, cultures
and languages. The necessary skills of traversing the unwritten rules
and unmapped terrain of being bi-cultural would evolve naturally in
this context, and eventually serve to heighten his sensitivity and awareness
of humanity's unspoken languages; skills he shares with Neumann.
Christian's first real exposure to America came at age eighteen when
he arrived at the University of Virginia to study architecture. It was
there that he met Scott and began to get his first glimpses into American.
The two young men shared an intense appreciation for aesthetic communication,
music, travel, art, and beautiful women, which quickly paved the way
for uninhibited "cross-cultural" exchange. The experiences
brought on by life at a diverse, Southern state University would eventually
form a base for Christian's interest and desire to create "Forgotten
Worlds . . ."
In his days as a student in Virginia, what struck Christian's most unexpectedly
was the latent racism and cultural closed-mindedness that lurked behind
what at first seemed a diverse culture. Moments of tension as he walked
with his Black girlfriend, or stories relayed by his friends about rejection
or conflict based on race, would leave him baffled and disappointed.
At University and beyond, relationships with African, Caribbean, African
American, Latin American, Asian, European, and white Americans of diverse
heritage, including Neumann, exposed Rogers to the multitudes of attitudes
and perspectives about race relations in America.
Six years spent working as a graphic designer for the music industry
in New York would follow college and further mold Christian's impressions
of American life. It was in these years that he strengthened the belief
that imagery could "make a difference" in terms of people's
perceptions and assumptions of one another.
At this point, the intersection of his friendship with Scott, his personal,
socio-political evolution, and his professional interest was fertile
ground for the evolution of "Forgotten Worlds . . ."
Together, Neumann and Rogers have forged this series of "vision-scapes'
of ancient and forgotten worlds from the raw materials of dust covered
archives".
Through the multimedia elements of the installation, the two aim to
"seduce, inspire, and educate" an audience, which, until now,
has been systematically denied easy access to this aspect of Black history.
They aspire to "bring 'Forgotten Worlds . . .' to people of all
ages and colors".
Their ideals have certainly been confirmed by recent acceptance of scientific
assertions of the African origin of humanity. Examples such as the "record
sales of the January 1988 issue of Newsweek, featuring Adam and Eve
as an attractive Black couple, to the 33 million viewers who tuned in
to NBC's airing of The Mystery of the Sphinx documentary, which divulged
the probable Black origins of the world-famous monument", and the
consistent growth of the Urban Mozaik audience, have given Neumann and
Rogers strong reason to believe that the project has come at a time
when people are both receptive and eager for this kind of experience.
One can only wonder, if through efforts like those of Rogers and Neumann,
and the propagation of messages such as those presented by "Forgotten
Worlds . . .", the next generation of Americans may be able to
explain the probable origins of the term "Black Irish", discuss
why Papua New Guineans look like a lot like Mozambicans, or be casually
able to answer the question of who was "Fu Hao". In "Forgotten
Worlds . . .", the hope is simply to expose people to the information
and the possibilities. The exhibit modestly hopes to "ensure that
a multi-ethnic audience comprised of non-Blacks, as well as Blacks,
will come away with knowledge that enhances public dialogue, while transforming
conceptions of race."
The
exhibit is on view at the Caribbean Cultural Center in New York City and
runs until August 9, 2001. The Center is located at 408 West 58th Street,
in Manhattan.
If you would like more information or to preview the show, go to www.imaginesomethingwonderful.com,
call 212-307-7420 ext. 3012, or send e-mail to mail@imaginesomethingwonderful.com
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Born
in Botswana, Southern Africa (and raised between there and Alexandria,
Virginia), Phalana now lives between New York City and Johannesburg,
South Africa. Besides contributing to UM as a writer and editor,
she also works as a film and television actor. She can be seen
in the upcoming comedy “Recipe for Disaster”; as a sometime
VJ on M2; and co-starring in the South African sit-com “The
Carruthers Brothers”. She thanks her sister Michaela for
being an example of grace and an inspiration for excellence.
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