Afrofuturism in Jazz
R.I. Sutherland-Cohen 03.01.2023 - 05.25.2023 Narthex Gallery
Produced with Jazzexpressions.org.
Afrofuturism is a conceptual space in the arts that explores the intersection of science and technology with Black history and culture. Afrofuturist artistic imagination provides a framework for reckoning with the past by refusing to be written out of the future. In music, Afrofuturist expression is usually traced back to George Clinton in funk and Sun Ra in jazz. Today, the list of jazz, pop, hip-hop, and R&B musicians who might be thought of as touching on Afrotuturist concepts is growing. Some of the more prominent exponents of Afrofuturism today are featured in this photography installation of performing musicians, which coincides with a multidisciplinary exhibit opening in March 2023, “Afrofuturism: A History of Black Futures,” at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC.
