Renowned photographer Dawoud Bey to visit the Detroit Institute of Arts for his talk titled “Visualizing Place, History, and Memory”
The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) presents a talk by American photographer and educator, Dawoud Bey, on Friday, July 19 at 7 p.m. in the museum’s lecture hall. In “Visualizing Place, History, and Memory,” Bey will explore the evolution of his photography career over the past four decades. Sponsored by the National Alliance of African American Art, this program is free with museum admission, which is free for residents of Macomb, Oakland and Wayne counties.
Bey will give an overview of his work, including The Birmingham Project that memorializes the six young African Americans killed in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama in 1963, part of which is currently on view at the DIA. He will also discuss his formative project,Harlem USA (1975–1979), a street photography series of his hometown that earned him his own exhibition at the Studio Museum in Harlem in his mid-20s. Comparing this series with his more recent projects, Bey will discuss his other works, including Harlem Redux, a direct reflection ofHarlem U.S.A that shows how much the community has changed in forty years. His most recent work, Night Coming Tenderly, Black, reimagines the path of fugitive slaves through the Underground Railroad, and begins his continuing exploration of the histories embedded in the landscape. Following the lecture, Bey will sign copies of his 2018 publication Seeing Deeply in the DIA’s museum shop.
In 2017, Bey was named a fellow and the recipient of a “Genius Grant” from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. He is also the recipient of fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, and holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from Yale University. He is currently Distinguished College Artist and Professor of Art at Columbia College Chicago, where he has taught since 1998.
Museum Hours and Admission
9 a.m.–4 p.m. Tuesdays–Thursdays, 9 a.m.–10 p.m. Fridays, and 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. General admission (excludes ticketed exhibitions) is free for Macomb, Oakland and Wayne county residents and DIA members. For all others, $14 for adults, $9 for seniors ages 62+, $8 for students, $6 for ages 6–17. For membership information, call 313-833-7971.
The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA), one of the premier art museums in the United States, is home to more than 60,000 works that comprise a multicultural survey of human creativity from ancient times through the 21st century. From the first Van Gogh painting to enter a U.S. museum (Self-Portrait, 1887), to Diego Rivera’s world-renowned Detroit Industry murals (1932–33), the DIA’s collection is known for its quality, range and depth. The DIA’s mission is to create opportunities for all visitors to find personal meaning in art.
