published on 11/03/06

Black Is Black Ain’t exhibit opens in FLLAC

Rachel Pittenger Staff Writer

The new exhibit Black Is Black Ain’t brought film and race relations together at its opening in the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center (FFLLAC) on Oct. 31. The exhibit, named after a 1994 made-for-television documentary directed by Marlon Riggs, explores the history and art of African-American movie posters. Separate Cinema, the local organization that compiled the exhibit, is dedicated to celebrating African-American contributions to the film industry.

Based in Hyde Park and founded by John Kisch in 1972, Separate Cinema has brought the art of black cinema to venues nationwide with its traveling poster exhibits since 1987.

Kisch said the archive works to “establish, preserve and document a permanent collection of the highest quality that reflects the history and legacy of the African-American cultural contribution to American cinema.” Kisch also emphasized that this exhibit is meant to be a celebration with a historical emphasis rather than a critical one.

Black Is Black Ain’t comes to the College in conjunction with the Film and Africana Studies Departments. Assistant Professor of Film Mia Mask played a fundamental role in bringing the exhibit to the gallery. In fact, the exhibit complements a course Mask currently teaches, on African-American film and history, entitled “Minorities in the Media.” She said in an interview in the Oct. 27 edition of the Poughkeepsie Journal that the exhibit is “a window into the kind of representation of African-Americans that the American film industry has exported...[viewers are] reminded when they see these films and images of the Civil Rights movement, the struggle for equality and inclusion, and equal access to opportunity.” She also said that American society has by no means come to terms with the status of race relations today, and that “some of these films force students to confront and, more appropriately, think about American society and history.”

Although Black Is Black Ain’t is small—there are only about 23 posters on display—the variety is impressive: posters range from the 1930s to the early 21st century and feature many notable African-American directors, whose films explore issues ranging from interracial romance to slavery. Posters on display include such films as Black Like Me (1964), A Raisin in the Sun (1961, starring Sidney Poitier), Shaft (1971), Beloved (1998, based on Toni Morrison’s novel), and Spike Lee’s extremely controversial films Do the Right Thing (1989) and Bamboozled (2000). The FLLAC exhibit will close on Nov. 12.

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