Opening on November 8th 2023 at the British School at Rome, Minted in Enemy Bronze represents the premiere of a decade-long film based journey by artist Justin Randolph Thompson. The research for this exhibition was funded in part by an Italian Council grant in 2021, with chapters of the film Al Lettore Benevolo presented at Museo MADRE in Naples in 2022 and They Remain at MUCEM in Marseille in 2023, and is the first institutional solo project by Thompson in Italy.. The exhibition presents a dozen films dedicated to the excavation of Black histories in Italy developed through dialogues and exchanges with Black scholars, artists and activists at sites resonant with atmospheric tension.
The exhibition was developed across the past two years with Thompson as Research Fellow at the British School at Rome. As co-founder and director of Black History Month Florence and The Recovery Plan, the project is embedded with an elaboration of the methodologies, research and histories that are the foundations of these cultural hubs dedicated to the centering of Blackness in Italian history.
The exhibition is expanded through a public program which brings film screenings, live performance and dialogues with scholars and cultural practitioners together as invitations towards a deeper dive into Thompson’s work and research.
The events include:
– 8 November 2023 | Every Thrust from Within or Without, a film screening and live performance with Jermay Michael Gabriel during the opening of the exhibition at the British School at Rome, via Gramsci 61, Rome
– 15 November 2023 at 7 pm | From the Campidoglio to the Zoo, a film screening, live performance and talk with Dudu Kouate at the Museo delle Civiltà (Palazzo delle Arti e Tradizioni Popolari) in Piazza Guglielmo Marconi 8, Rome
– 21 November 2023 6.30 pm | Parascintille, a film screening with a live sound performance by Sadi and a conversation with film curator Greg De Cuir at the American Academy in Rome in via Angelo Masina 5, Rome
The artist will be present at the BSR on 15 November from 3 to 5 pm and on 21 November from 3 to 4 pm to narrate the exhibition to visitors.
Justin Randolph Thompson is an artist, cultural facilitator and educator based in Italy since 1999. He is Co-Founder and Director of Black History Month Florence and The Recovery Plan. Thompson is a recipient of a 2022 Creative Capital Award, a 2020 Italian Council Research Fellowship, a Louis Comfort Tiffany Award, a Franklin Furnace Fund Award and a Visual Artist Grant from the Fundación Marcelino Botín amongst others. His work and performances have been exhibited widely in institutions including The Whitney Museum of American Art, the Centro de Arte Reina Sofía and The American Academy in Rome and are part of numerous collections including The Studio Museum in Harlem, and the Museo MADRE. His life and work seek to deepen the discussions around cultural stratification and the arrogance of permanence fostering projects that connect academic discourse, social activism and DIY networking strategies in annual and biennial forms of gathering, sharing and collectivity.
Justin Randolph Thompson’s statement – ENG & ITA
The exhibition is supported through collaborations with:
American Academy in Rome
Museo delle Civiltà
SRISA Gallery of Contemporary Art
The Recovery Plan
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