Visitors of Madison, Wisconsin’s Chazen Museum of Art discovered artifacts, paintings, photographs, textiles, multimedia, and documentary evidence of African Americans living abroad in Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden when they entered the second-floor exhibition, Nordic Utopia? African Americans in the 20th Century, curated by the Department of African American Studies professor Dr. Ethelene Whitmire and Leslie Anne Anderson, chief curator of the National Nordic Museum. The exhibition explored the significance of African Americans pursuing their art practices abroad to escape racial Jim Crow segregation and discrimination in the United States in favor of Nordic countries where they might investigate their sexuality, find adventure, and expand their education.
In her interview with Forbes Magazine, Anderson shares: “They found a place where they could release their creativity, they could pursue opportunities that they may not have had in the States…we were very deliberate with the question mark (in the title) because there’s no such thing as a utopia, but (the artists) for the most part talked about how their experiences–professional and personal–were improved in the Nordic countries”.
Dr. Whitmire, a 2016-2017 Fulbright Scholar, centers her research on transnational African American experience, 20th-century history, and Scandinavian Studies. She notes: “Some artists left the United States on an intentional quest for refuge from racial prejudice and other social constraints. Others found creative freedom in Nordic countries that catapulted their artistic practice”. Dr. Whitmire received fellowships from the American-Scandinavian Foundation and the Lois Roth Endowment to support this project.
The exhibit was first on display at the National Nordic Museum in Seattle before its stop at the Chazen Museum of Art from August 10th through November 10th. The exhibition has now moved to the Scandinavia House in New York City.
