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Tune in as Ayana V. Jackson dives in to explore the history and inspiration behind the exhibition From the Deep: In the Wake of Drexciya. Here, her artworks bring to life an African, women-led aquatopia founded during the Middle Passage.

This video, originally presented at the Claiming Space Symposium (2022), is part of the Smithsonian Afrofuturism series, a collaboration of the National Museum of African Art, National Air and Space Museum, and National Museum of African American History and Culture.

In the early 1990s, Drexciya, a Detroit-based techno duo made up of James Stinson and Gerald Donald, imagined an underwater kingdom populated by the children of pregnant women who had been thrown overboard or jumped voluntarily into the ocean during the transatlantic slave trade.

Drexciya’s founding myth has inspired numerous artists, among them Ayana V. Jackson who, in this exhibition, brings to life an immersive, feminist, and sacred aquatopia where African water spirits from Senegal to South Africa both midwife and protect the Drexciyans. Jackson asks that we reckon with the brutal history that cast these beings to the sea while simultaneously envisioning a world of powerful, resilient women. By using her own body to convey her message, Jackson actively engages in what it might have meant to be among the estimated two million captives who never made it to shore. What do you imagine the Drexciyans see looking back at us?

The Smithsonian National Museum of African Art invited young people across the DMV to submit their original photographs, drawings, videos and other forms of portraiture. The I Am Beautiful! Teen Portrait Showcase/Contest coincides with the exhibit Iké Udé: Nollywood Portraits. This year’s theme is “I am Beautiful”. Teens ages 15-19 were encouraged to explore beauty in individuality.

Caleb Patterson of Duke Ellington School of the Arts won the title of grand winner. Agyei Allrich of NationHouse Homeschool Support Program won first place. Mandichera Hargrove, also of NationHouse Homeschool Support Program won second place. Alex Mendez-Santana of Duke Ellington School of the Arts won third place.

See their work