Sunday, April 12, 1 – 2pm
Tourmaline. Pollinator, 2022. Detail of video still. © Tourmaline. Courtesy of the artist and Chapter NY, New York
$15 on-site; $8 online; members and students free
About the Talk
Join co-curators James Claiborne and Maori Karmael Holmes for an engaging conversation about our newest exhibition, Freedom Dreams. Together, they’ll discuss the evolving understanding of the exhibition’s key themes, including notions of freedom, archives, and artistic and cultural lineage. The conversation will be moderated by art history scholar Kellie E. Jones, PhD.
Join us in the Comcast NBCUniversal Auditorium or online via livestream. On-site registration includes access to the exhibition and collection.
Tourmaline. Pollinator, 2022. Video still. © Tourmaline. Courtesy of the artist and Chapter NY, New York
About the Exhibition
Freedom Dreams brings together powerful works by artists in film, video, and installation that offer viewers the opportunity to immerse themselves in the memories, dreams, and histories of Black Americans. Featuring works by Arthur Jafa, David Hartt, Garrett Bradley, Ja’Tovia Gary, and Tourmaline, the exhibition explores history, archives, and cultural memory and highlights the fluid boundary between past, present, and future. Freedom Dreams encourages viewers to reflect on how Americans of color have shaped identities and created spaces of resistance, joy, and resilience in the face of systemic oppression.
Freedom Dreams is on view April 12–August 9, 2026, in the Roberts Gallery.
Speakers
James Claiborne
Claiborne is the Fleischner Family Deputy Director for Community Engagement at the Barnes and the co-curator of Freedom Dreams. He also co-curated William Edmondson: A Monumental Vision (2023) and the related installation Returning to Before by artist Brendan Fernandes. He recently served as an adjunct professor at Drexel University’s Westphal College of Media Arts & Design, teaching audience development in the arts.
Maori Karmael Holmes
Holmes is the chief executive and artistic officer of BlackStar Projects and the co-curator of Freedom Dreams. She has organized programs at Anthology Film Archives and Whitney Museum, as well as exhibitions at ICA and Pearlstein Gallery. Holmes was named one of Kennedy Center’s #Next50, a 2023 United States Artists Berresford Prize recipient, and a 2022 Philadelphia’s Cultural Treasures Fellow.
Kellie E. Jones
Jones is the Hans Hofmann Professor of Modern Art in the Department of Art History & Archaeology and Professor of African American & African Diaspora Studies at Columbia University. Her research interests include African American and African diaspora artists, Latinx and Latin American artists, and issues in contemporary art and museum theory.