Northside artists sow seeds of ancestral wisdom in Arboretum exhibit
Joshua “Brotha Aśe” Gillespie co-curated the exhibit “Where the See Remembers” and also exhibited some of his paintings. Photo by David Pierini
By David Pierini, Editor
Joshua Gillespie thinks about seeds, how they transform and flourish in new beginnings, how what they produce endures weather and fertilizes resilience.
His grandparents planted seeds of love that took root in him. Vusumuzi Zulu and his wife, Nothando, founded the Black Storytellers Alliance, and a foundational garden grew as a kid when he played an African drum to lend beats to the rhythms of the tales told.
But when he lost his grandmother and another beloved griot from the collective in the same year, Gillespie – a Northsider who goes by Brotha Aśe – began to consider what seeds he would plant for the community that cultivated his growth.
Gillespie enjoyed a harvest of sorts on March 29, when an art exhibit he co-curated opened at the University of Minnesota’s Landscape Arboretum’s Reedy Gallery in Chaska.
The 10 artists of color behind “Where the Seed Remembers: A Celebration of Earth, Lineage and Memory” evoke and honor their ancestors and how their wisdom, nurturing, and, at times, grief have shaped their lives as artists and as members of a supportive diaspora.
Four of the artists, Ron Brown, Ayolanda Evans, Imani Mansfield, and Allena Sweats, live in North Minneapolis. The show, which ends on May 17, opened with a libation ceremony performed by Vusumuzi Zulu and Mariama Imani.
“When you look at their art, that's a whole world of experience,” Gillespie said. “The Seed Remembers is about looking at the roots of those worlds, looking at the roots of why people we see in our neighborhoods move the way they move. A lot of these (artists) represent different communities in the Twin Cities. This is a change to get a deeper look at the lay of the land.”
Each artist’s unique style and chosen medium, from photography and sculpture to painting, explored some aspect of the theme, from memory to family lineage. Moving from piece to piece feels like a conversation among the artists, unified by a reverence for the elders, what they endured, and an agreement to pass their lessons on to new generations.
Evans routinely considers experience, community, and ancestry as part of her practice. Her works of collage and assemblage generated a steady buzz at the opening reception.
Ayolanda Evans is one of 10 artists with work on display at the University of Minnesota’s Landscape Arboretum’s Reedy Gallery. Photo by David Pierini
“(Ancestry) is always on my mind, and when this opportunity came about, I was like ‘Oh, that already resonates with me,” Evans said. “It’s important to me to remember who we are and who we were before the transatlantic (slave trade) that brought my people over. It’s a large part of my life as a Black woman to remember and reconnect.”
Multidisciplinary artist Ron Brown comfortably goes back and forth between comic illustration – he likes to create zombies – and fine art.
Ancestry is never far from his mind; it guides his brushes on canvas. While an artist-in-residence at the Midtown Global Market last year, Brown ran a workshop on the theme of fathers.
He didn’t take the show’s theme as an assignment because “it’s a way of being for me.”
Three of the pieces take up space like a triptych, spartan in fine detail but generous with color and bold, graphic figures that seem to move before the eye.
“My whole idea is around the ‘Gods must be crazy,’ but God is talking,” Brown said. “I kind of try to push the narrative that we have people in our lives, ancestors, whose shoulders we stood on to make ourselves who we are today. I’m proud of that.”