The Global North is responsible for 92% of all excess emissions, whilst the populations of the Global South bear the brunt of the resulting ecological damage. However, most scientific research and artistic discourse around climate change neglects African diasporic, Latin American and Native American perspectives. A new book from Thames & Hudson provides an alternative narrative. Black Earth Rising opens with an interrogation of the Anthropocene, a term used to describe how human activity has caused geological change. Author Ekow Eshun proffers an alternative: Plantationocene, which foregrounds the effect of colonialism and slavery on humanity and the planet, stating “we still live in its shadow.”
The volume features over 150 contemporary artists who trace the links between climate change, colonialism, and racial and environmental justice. Artists like Dawoud Bey and Joscelyn Gardner reframe instances of oppression and cruelty. Bey’s In This Here Place (2019) depict former sites of plantations, the landscapes show little indication of their previous function; whilst Gardner’s portraits return agency and identity to female slaves. Xaviera Simmon’s, meanwhile, looks to a more equitable future. The photograph Denver captures a Black woman standing ankle-deep in a shallow river. It is a testament to the joy and power of reclaiming a relationship with nature.
This is a landmark publication that is sure to stay with people long after they close the book. Here, communities that have been wrongfully relegated to the sidelines of conversations are placed at the heart of the story. Black Earth Rising showcases vibrant and moving artworks that are profound both in their unflinching insights into centuries-long injustices, and contemporary, racial injustices.
Black Earth Rising: Colonialism and Climate Change in Contemporary Art is published by Thames & Hudson: thamesandhudson.com
Words: Emma Jacob
Image credits:
Carrie Mae Weems, A Distant View, from The Louisiana Project, 2003. Gelatin silver print, 50.8 x 50.8 (20 x 20) Courtesy the artist and Gladstone Gallery, New York; Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco, and Galerie Barbara Thumm, Berlin. © Carrie Mae Weems.
Deborah Jack, the fecund, the lush and the salted land waits for a harvest…her people…ripe with promise, wait until the next blowing season, 2022. 7-channel video, 07:56 minutes. Courtesy of the artist.
Zig Jackson, Entering Zig’s Indian Reservation: China Basin, 1997. Epson Archival Pigment Print, 48.3 x 58.4 (19 x 23). Courtesy Andrew Smith Gallery, Tucson. © Zig Jackson.
