Exhibition

Recent Work - Wrongful Termination /  by Alisa Banks

Wrongful Termination addresses race-based discriminatory practices. Starting in the 1980’s, multiple suits have been filed against employers, schools, and other agencies by people of color (primarily women) who were fired, passed over for promotion or hiring, or sent home for wearing their natural hair. Wrongful is a unique altered book featuring two original poems and texts from newspaper editorials.

In 2019, California and New York became the first and second states respectively, to pass the Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair or CROWN Act, to end race-based hair discrimination. According to a study sponsored by Dove:

  • A Black woman is 80% more likely to change her natural hair to meet social norms or expectations at work.

  • Black women are 50% more likely to be sent home or know of a black woman sent home from the workplace because of her hair.

More information about the CROWN Act can be found here. The CROWN Act is not about feeling good about oneself or one’s body, but about fighting discriminatory practices based on race.

A special thanks to Annie Howe, for the warm welcome she extended to her Baltimore studio earlier this year. Annie introduced me to a new knife and insisted that I bring home the samples that were used to carve out the book. I had so much fun at our visit that I didn’t think to take photos!

Reed College - Portland, OR /  by Alisa Banks

Planted is housed in the Special Collections and Archives Library at Reed College, located in Portland, OR.

The library holdings include rare books, manuscripts, calligraphy and letter forms, and an artist book collection as well as others. More information is located on the Special Collections page where one can learn more about the origin and focus of the various collections. The Artist Book Collection has a searchable database. It appears that all works are not accessible via the digital library, but one is able to access holdings using the main search function. The collections are open to the public. The Visit Us page outlines instructions for visitors wishing to access work.

Planted consists of one deluxe and a standard edition of four. The edition featured above, which is in the Reed collection is a standard edition. It features an essay on gardening and how gardens have the potential to connect to ancestors.

Schomburg Center, New York Public Library /  by Alisa Banks

Bone Straight, Afro Centric, and Bad Hair are three books housed in the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture of the New York Public Library. The Center is located in Manhattan and “is generally recognized as the world’s leading research library devoted exclusively to documenting the history and cultural development of peoples of African descent worldwide.” The Center was founded during the Harlem Renaissance, and since that time, the collection has grown to over 10 million items.

The Center offers diverse programming, including lectures, exhibitions, classes, and workshops in addition to supporting research. Many of the collections are available digitally. Access to the Center is free, but a library pass is required for entry. Visitors who do not reside in NYC are invited to apply for a free library card on-line, which is valid for three months.

The Center has an extensive website that also includes helpful tips. In addition to obtaining a library card, visitors are encouraged to reach out to the staff to reserve materials in advance. Researchers can search the collections on-line prior to visiting and tours are also available and can be arranged in advance. Personal items must be checked in before entering the research areas and check in service is free.

Hair fiber is feature in several of my works, including the three that are in the Shomburg collection. Sometimes, the subject of the works are hair culture and sometimes not, but these three in particular are. Afro Centric is celebratory, while Bone Straight is a witnessing. Bad Hair is about discriminatory employment practices.