"Sharing the Past": A Photography Exhibition on Racial Violence and Legacy

Strategic Insights -

Rose Golda McLellan's photography exhibition "Sharing the Past" at the Burns-Belfry Museum and Multicultural Center explores the experiences of community members reacting to historical sites across the South. The exhibition, which coincided with the two-year anniversary of McLellan's journey with Castel Sweet, an assistant professor of practice in community engagement at the University of Mississippi, features photos taken during Sweet's "Sightseeing Resistance" trips. The photos are grouped around a series of eight questions that encourage viewers to engage with the past and its legacies.

Key Takeaways:

  • The "Sharing the Past" photography exhibition, curated by Rose Golda McLellan, features photos taken during Castel Sweet's "Sightseeing Resistance" trips to areas of the South prominent in the history of slavery in the U.S.
  • The exhibition includes a series of eight questions that prompt viewers to engage with the past and its legacies, such as "What does it mean to share a story, not just tell it?"
  • McLellan's favorite photos were taken during her experience documenting "What journeys brought people to this moment?", including a photograph of a relative of Elwood Higginbottom, a lynching victim in Lafayette County.
  • The exhibition allows viewers to move around the area, sampling the larger, permanent history exhibit of the church itself, and experience the photos in a natural and emotional way.
  • McLellan's work emphasizes the importance of not only hearing stories but also reading them, as they provide ways of interacting with the past, reckoning with it, and respecting the legacies of those that have come before us.

Statistics:

  • The exhibition featured a collection of photos taken over a period of two years.
  • The "Sightseeing Resistance" trips took participants to areas of the South prominent in the history of slavery in the U.S.
  • The exhibition included a total of 8 questions to engage with the past and its legacies.
  • The photos were grouped into categories that encouraged viewers to reflect on the past and its impact on the present.

Sources:

  • "Sharing the Past" photography exhibition, presented by Rose Golda McLellan at the Burns-Belfry Museum and Multicultural Center on October 17.
  • "Sightseeing Resistance" trips led by Castel Sweet, an assistant professor of practice in community engagement at the University of Mississippi.
  • "Behind the Big House" exhibit in Holly Springs, Miss., which interprets the lives of enslaved people in a day of remembrance.