Sanford Biggers, The Floating World: The Pasts They Brought With Them (2013). Courtesy of LeRoy Neiman Center for Print Studies, Columbia University
DPI Professor Kalia Brooks Nelson is the curator for the Columbia University exhibition 20 and Odd: The 400th Anniversary of 1619, which aims to subvert the commonly taught European perspective of the history of America by foregrounding the "black genius" that fundamentally engineered the country from the very beginning. The exhibition showcases archival documents, vintage photographs, and contemporary art to demonstrate the impact of Africans and their descendents on the United States as we know it today.
The exhibition opened on August 30, 2019 and is on view until September 30, 2019 at the Leroy Neiman Gallery at Columbia University's School of the Arts.