Location: CI&A Bank of America Gallery
The inaugural exhibition in the Bank of America Gallery is Repossessions, a group exhibition presenting commissioned works by Black artists using artifacts from the eras of enslavement and Jim Crow in the United States. Repossessions will be on view in the CI&A from October 1, 2025 - to May 1, 2026.
The title Repossessions names the process of giving Black artists possession of historical objects and their facsimiles, allowing the artists to “repossess” them and transform their existence. This exhibition highlights the history of human ownership and its violent, multigenerational and international legacy and Repossessions acknowledges the legally sanctioned possession of one human being by another as the foundation for wealth and power in this country.
Repossessions originated at the California African American Museum (CAAM) and is curated by Bridget R. Cooks, PhD, independent curator, scholar, and professor of African American studies and art history at the University of California, Irvine. The project is an initiative of The Reparations Project in collaboration with Reparations4Slavery. The presentation at the Spelman College Museum of Fine Art is made possible by the generous support of the Friends of the Museum.