Tuesday, April 4, 2017, 5:30 p.m., Thompson Hall 101, Kansas State University,
Reception to follow at Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art
14th & Anderson Ave, Manhattan, KS.
Damon Davis started the All Hands on Deck project as part of the Black Lives Matter movement in his home city, St. Louis. The project honors “that diverse collective dedicated to protecting our human rights, no matter race, age, or gender.” Davis will discuss All Hands on Deck and screen excerpts from his documentary Whose Streets?, which was included in the US Documentary category of the 2017 Sundance Film Festival.
After Michael Brown was shot to death by police in Ferguson, Missouri, on August 9, 2014. Damon Davis, a native of nearby East St. Louis, joined the protests against the shooting and started photographing the upraised hands of his fellow activists.
When businesses boarded up their storefronts in anticipation of riots, he asked owners for permission to paste three-feet-high posters of his photographs on the wood. The rows of raised hands provided a visual backdrop for the protests, transforming “hands up” from a symbol of surrender to that of resistance and community solidarity. Davis also created the website www.allhandsondeckproject.org so others could download and print the hands, or make their own, and post them in their city. Since then, All Hands on Deck has shown up in cities like New York and Boston and in countries like Ghana and India. Wildwood Press in St. Louis worked with Davis to publish All Hands on Deck fine art prints, two of which reside in the Beach Museum of Art collection.
The presentation by Damon Davis is organized by the Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art in partnership with the K-State Black Student Union. Co-sponsored by K-State Department of Art and funded in part by the SGA Fine Arts Fee; Dow Center for Multicultural and Community Studies, K-State Libraries; and Department of American Ethnic Studies. Photograph by Nate Burrell.
Enhance the Experience!
Participate:
March 30, 2017, 4:30 – 5:30 pm, Pre-event Gallery Talk at the Beach Museum of Art, Discuss works by African American artists on display with Curator Aileen June Wang.
March 27-29, 2017, 11 am – 2 pm, Visit the Union Program Council Arts table to photograph your hands and be part of All Hands on Deck, K-State edition.
View:
April 4 -14, 2017 at the K-State Student Union Art Gallery All Hands on Deck organized by students of the Union Program Council and the Black Student Union.
April 4, 2017, 2:30 pm and April 12, 2017, 12:30 pm at the K-State Student Union Art Gallery, Gallery Talk with Beach Museum Curator Aileen June Wang
Image: Damon Davis, All Hands on Deck #5, 2015, KSU, Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art