Symposium—Fictions of Emancipation: Carpeaux Recast, Session 2

Join a panel of scholars for a symposium that examines Western sculpture in relation to the histories of transatlantic slavery, colonialism, and empire. Presented in conjunction with the exhibition Fictions of Emancipation: Carpeaux Recast.

Session 2: Figuring Freedom
The following presentations examine how liberty has been represented and misrepresented in Western art.

The ici (here) and là-bas (over there) of Enslavement and Liberty
James Smalls
Professor and Chair of Visual Arts, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

“Moi libre aussi”: Liberty as Mimicry and Ambivalence in French Post-Abolition Imagery in 1794
Susan Libby
Professor of Art History, Rollins College

Seeing Double: White Supremacy and the Emancipation Lie
Kirsten Pai Buick
Professor of Art History, Associate Dean of Equity and Excellence for the College of Fine Arts, and Inaugural Chair of the Department of Africana Studies, University of New Mexico

Discussion
Chaired by Lisa E. Farrington
Associate Dean of Fine Arts, and Director, Gallery of Art, Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts, Howard University

Original Air Date: Thursday, April 28, 2022

The symposium is made possible by Mr. and Mrs. Richard Lockwood Chilton, Jr.

Fictions of Emancipation: Carpeaux Recast is on view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 521, Wrightsman Exhibition Gallery, through March 5, 2023.

The exhibition is made possible by the Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Foundation.

Additional support is provided by Allen R. Adler and Frances F. L. Beatty.

© 2022 The Metropolitan Museum of Art