{"id":45389,"date":"2022-06-04T08:10:07","date_gmt":"2022-06-04T13:10:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artloversnewyork.com\/zine\/?p=45389"},"modified":"2022-06-26T09:38:59","modified_gmt":"2022-06-26T14:38:59","slug":"black-dolls-new-york-historical-society-final-weekend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artloversnewyork.com\/zine\/the-bomb\/2022\/06\/04\/black-dolls-new-york-historical-society-final-weekend\/","title":{"rendered":"~’BLACK DOLLS’ . . NEW-YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY \/ FINAL WEEKEND !!"},"content":{"rendered":"

PERSEVERANCE v. SUBSERVIENCE \/ think on it.<\/p>\n

‘BLACK DOLLS’ . . FEB 25 – JUNE 5, 2022
\nNEW-YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY<\/a>, 170 CENTRAL PARK WEST at 77TH ST, NYC<\/p>\n

TICKETS:<\/strong> VISIT \/ NEW-YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY<\/a><\/p>\n

SEE INTRO:<\/strong> ‘BLACK DOLLS’ \/ NEW-YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY <\/a><\/p>\n

PHOTOS FROM THE EXHIBIT . . BY NANCY SMITH \/ MARCH 5, 2022<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n‘Doll in blue dress’, Eastern US or Canada, ca. 1865-70
\nhandmade,’scrap\/rag doll, cotton, paint \/ for the features on the face.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nmale servant \/ house doll, with an ‘iron enslavement collar’ (looks to be wrapped wire) \/
\nso that he could not run away, and, to keep him mentally . . subservient.
\none does not<\/strong> need a caption, to understand that this is an enslaved person.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nsome dolls are happier play than others \/ but all – reflect their times.
\nsimple worded wall texts, and display captions – help with the background info and context,
\nwithout being . . inflammatory. facts are presented just as straightforward, and honest, . . as could be \/ with an even-handed emphasis on the doll making, as much as the greater social commentary.
\nthere are also a lot of wonderful, original historic photos \/ which speak as direct witness to the times.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nthe text reads:
\n“Expressions of resilience and creativity, perseverance<\/em> and pride, love longing. The handmade Black dolls that populate this exhibit have a lot to say. Stitched largely by Black women for their own children or white youngsters under<\/em> their care, the dolls were ingeniously<\/em>
\ncrafted from materials at hand. Their faded clothing, torn bodies, and sundry repairs evoke vigorous play and lost conversations, and call up images of the children that cuddled, pampered, and mistreated <\/em>them. <\/p>\n

Made in the U.S. between the 1850s and the 1940s, these dolls span a tumultuous period in American history marked by slavery, legalized segregation, and entrenched racism. These works are mute about their specific histories, yet every<\/em> stitch and swatch was a deliberate choice. The makers. mostly unknown to us, created toys<\/em> that expressed their inner<\/em> lives and intangible feelings while challenging pervasive stereotypes.”<\/p>\n

note: the dolls on display are from the collection of DEBORAH NEFF, unless otherwise noted.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nthe ‘interactive’ stations are both fun, and . . hands-on informative.
\nthis presentation lets you experience the ‘recycled’ \/ mostly used or left-over scraps \/ and sometimes straight out . . rags that made up the majority of the dolls.
\nthe so-important black material used for the bodies, and faces usually came from worn-out woolen socks, or finer cotton stockings. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nthis exhibit is so, so excellent. especially in that it was really fun,
\nand seriously: thoughtful, a vivid, even intimate learning experience, and, not just a purely conceptual, nor overtly motivated one. glorious DIY – was the order of the day.
\ndeeply rooted, and varied – just like the people who made them.
\nalthough harsh reality was not excluded, these after-all were dolls, not weapons.
\nalthough if words can be weapons, I guess – so can dolls.
\nbut overall, a joyous pride of improvised creativity, that not only expressed a tough era, and perhaps a hardened ‘inner’ life . . but, which also delighted young children, sets the dominant warm tone \/
\nwhile demonstrating and explaining the range of skills and fabrication – along the way.<\/p>\n

DIY: re-cycled !! hand-stitched !! home-made !! creative !! expressive !! useful.
\nand, necessary. <\/p>\n

where the link to both universal ancestral human artistry,
\nand, the very ‘heart’ of our cutting-edge contemporary art . . . meet.<\/p>\n

I only wish this exhibit – could have continued on through the summer.
\nand, I bet – I’m not <\/strong>the only one. <\/p>\n

PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PERSEVERANCE v. SUBSERVIENCE \/ think on it. ‘BLACK DOLLS’ . . FEB 25 – JUNE 5, 2022 NEW-YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY, 170 CENTRAL PARK WEST at 77TH ST, NYC TICKETS: VISIT \/ NEW-YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY SEE INTRO: ‘BLACK DOLLS’ \/ NEW-YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY PHOTOS FROM THE EXHIBIT . . BY NANCY SMITH \/ MARCH 5, 2022 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artloversnewyork.com\/zine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45389"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artloversnewyork.com\/zine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artloversnewyork.com\/zine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artloversnewyork.com\/zine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artloversnewyork.com\/zine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45389"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/www.artloversnewyork.com\/zine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45389\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45470,"href":"https:\/\/www.artloversnewyork.com\/zine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45389\/revisions\/45470"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artloversnewyork.com\/zine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artloversnewyork.com\/zine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45389"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artloversnewyork.com\/zine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}