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A Local Organization Celebrates Black Culture Through the Arts A Local Organization Celebrates Black Culture Through the Arts

The Black Artist Collective hosted Fête Noir in celebration of the culture

By Pa Zong Lee

PA-ZONG LEE: Twists and turns, songs and soul, you’re looking at the dress rehearsal for Fête Noir, and it’s happening right here in the Community Folk Arts Center, or CFAC. The Black Artist Collective is hosting this event full of Black art and culture. Qiana Williams says the idea is to celebrate Black joy.

QIANA WILLIAMS: Joy in many ways is umm… A disruptor its a… It’s a active resistance… Umm you know celebrating life in spite of all that’s holding you back.

LEE: This event was held virtually for the first time last year, but this year people can come in person or watch online. So how did the collective form under a pandemic? The killing of George Floyd had many organizations rethinking their commitment to diversity and that included the local arts community here.

MARTIKAH WILLIAMS: Wanting us to be engaged with them and wanting us to like you know, work in their centers, they had to do more work to make it a better environment and more inclusive and safer environment.

LEE: Aside from the drums and tunes and the rhythm and blues, the showcase will also feature CFAC’s current exhibit.

LEE: Atlanta-based artist Shanequa Gay connects the past with the present for Black Americans. Carry the wait is her exhibit that highlights Black women and Black culture. The hybrid form of humans with zebra legs merge the spiritual and temporal world today.

TANISHA JACKSON: More specifically when you visit the exhibit, you’re gonna see collage work or works on paper that have like these hybrid beings that umm… that she calls the devout and what she’s trying to do is really have a conversation about culture, about memory, about Afro-Futurism.

LEE: Black history is American history, it’s in our everyday lives, and that’s what the Black Artist Collective wants us to remember… in Syracuse, Pa-Zong Lee, NCC News.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) — The local arts community in Syracuse closed out Black History Month with an artist showcase, Fête Noir. The Black Artist Collective hosted Fête Noir as a night to celebrate Black culture through the visual and performing arts.

The night was about celebrating Black joy. Co-founder, Qiana Williams said this relates to the principles of what the Black Artist Collective is about, and that’s social justice.

“Joy in many ways is umm a disruptor,” Williams said. “It’s an active resistance, celebrating life in spite of all that’s holding you back.”

The Black Artist Collective is a local organization made to support Black artists in Syracuse. The formation of the BAC came shortly after George Floyd’s murder in 2020. Co-founder Martikah Williams said it was crucial for the Black artists community to be supported. During a protest at city hall, Williams along with other members of the community made a call to action.

“Wanting us to be engaged with them and wanting us to like you know work in their centers, they had to do more work to make it a better environment and more inclusive and safer environment,” Williams said.

Fête Noir was held at the Community Folk Arts Center, an art center that is committed to supporting artists of the African diaspora. The event showcased their current exhibit along with the show. The exhibit being shown is called “carry the wait” by Atlanta-based artist, Shanequa Gay. Executive director of CFAC Dr. Tanisha Jackson said this exhibit highlights Black culture, but specifically Black women and their journey.

“You’re gonna see collage work or works on paper that have like these hybrid beings, that she calls the devout and what she’s trying to do is really have a conversation about culture, about memory, about Afro-Futurism,” Jackson said.

The festivities don’t stop here. The BAC plan to hold future events that uplift artists as well as the Black community here in Syracuse. They want to remind us that Black history is a part of American history and it’s embedded in the walks of our lives. Through events like Fête Noir, emerging artists and their work gain exposure, in addition to allowing others to be educated.

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