Rising Above - African American History and Culture Lecture Series:
“A Dam Against the Spring Tide of Memories”: Collecting/Collective Identity and the African American Past

Dr. Tim Gruenewald
School of Modern Languages and Cultures, HKU

Location: 1/F TT Tsui Building, University Museum and Art Gallery, HKU
Date: 6 Apr 2017 (Thu)
Time: 6:30 pm

Many collectors of African American cultural and historical objects declare rewriting American history and art history as central to their endeavor. They also aim to contribute to a re-imagination of African American identity. In their view, the African American story has too long been presented in a limited and distorted manner, which collectors hope to correct through their practice of collecting and exhibiting. As a conclusion to the Kinsey exhibition lecture series, this talk explores the history and conceptual approaches of collecting and exhibiting African American art and history and its contribution to the development of an African American collective identity.

Dr. Tim Gruenewald is Director of the American Studies Programme at HKU, where he teaches U.S. popular culture and cultural studies. He is the contributing co-editor of the forthcoming volume Benevolent Empire in U.S. Popular Culture since 9/11 and an edited volume inspired by the Kinsey Collection of African American Art and History. His current research examines how remembrance of difficult histories in national memorial museums contributes to the national imagination in the United States. He is the writer and co-director of the documentary film Sacred Ground (2016), which explores memory discourses at Wounded Knee and Mount Rushmore.