Date & location: Friday, September 19, 2014 through Saturday, January 3, 2015 at Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Latimer/Edison Gallery
Since its debut performance in California in 1974, Ntozake Shange’s work has captivated, provoked, inspired and transformed audiences all over the world.
Turning to the choreopoem not simply as an engaging work of text or drama, but as a well of social, political and deeply personal issues affecting the lives of women of color, the exhibition will feature 20 specially commissioned pieces in honor of each individual poem, additional non-commissioned artworks on display at satellite locations, that address the work’s themes and archival material donated by Shange.
The exhibition’s title is drawn from one of the last lines recited in the finale poem "a laying on of hands." The title suggests that navigating through the complexities of what it means to be of color and female is only enlightened by an understanding, acceptance and appreciation of self. With self-empowerment comes the process of "…moving to the ends of their own rainbows."
By presenting visual works from both women and men, all races and various generations, "i found god in myself" explores the universality inherent in Shange’s powerful message to the world.
A series of spoken word performances, screenings, panels, a community art project and a guided art crawl will accompany the exhibition.