Reckonings and Reconstructions: Southern Photography’s Past and Futures

Join the Georgia Museum of Art, the Willson Center for Humanities and Arts and the University of Georgia Press for a day-long program in conjunction with the exhibition “Reckonings and Reconstructions: Southern Photography from the Do Good Fund.” These festivities will highlight the richness and contradictions of southern culture through the region’s deep history of photography, guided by the themes that structure the exhibition: land, labor, law and protest, food, ritual and kinship. Following two panels at the museum, the day will continue with events about the rich history of music and alternative culture in Athens; collaborations with the Bitter Southerner and The Humid, an ambitious photography incubator and education space in Athens with a global reach; and opportunities for community building around savory southern food.

Schedule

Friday, October 21, 2022, 6:30 – 8 p.m.

Exhibition Reception
Georgia Museum of Art lobby and galleries

Not Yet Friends: $15 per person
Friend + Annual Fund Members (Supporter level) and Friends of the Museum: $10 per person
Friend + Annual Fund Members (Reciprocal level and above): complimentary

Space is limited and advance registration is strongly recommended. Visit https://bit.ly/90c-Oct-22 to register. Not yet a Friend? Visit jointhemuseum.com to join today.

Saturday, October 22, 2022

Two roundtable discussions, Georgia Museum of Art auditorium, 10:15am – 12:30 p.m.

Panel 1: Reckonings (10:15 – 11:15 a.m.)
Taking the many meanings of “reckoning” to heart, this panel will consider how photography offers a way to reckon with the southern past, but also a means to surmise and imagine visions of the South’s future. The conversation will address Indigenous identity, dispossession and the possibilities of return; kinship, healing and southern memory; and language, folklore and the darker corners of the southern vernacular.

Moderator: Jeffrey Richmond-Moll, curator of American art, Georgia Museum of Art, and curator of “Reckonings and Reconstructions”

Speakers:

Zig Jackson (Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara), photographer and emeritus professor, Savannah College of Art and Design
Josina Guess, contributor to the Bitter Southerner, MFA student in narrative nonfiction, UGA
Kristine Potter, photographer (Nashville, Tennessee)

Panel 2: Reconstructions (11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.)
This panel will also look backwards and forwards, considering reconstruction in the South as both a historical phenomenon and an ongoing photographic obligation. The conversation will consider histories of protest, resistance and activism in southern photography; community building in the face of historical trauma and the promise of community-based photography; and reconstruction as restoration, particularly in relation to the southern landscape and southern foodways.

Moderator: Grace Hale, Commonwealth Professor of American Studies and History, University of Virginia

Speakers:

Andrea Morales, documentary photographer and Visuals Director at MLK50 (Memphis, Tennessee)
Trent Bozeman, photographer (Fayetteville, Arkansas)
Nicole A. Taylor, food journalist, author of “Watermelon & Red Birds: A Cookbook for Juneteenth and Black Celebrations” (Athens, Georgia, and Brooklyn, New York)

Outdoor lunch, sculpture garden, Georgia Museum of Art (12:30 – 1:30 p.m.)
Catering by Rashe’s Cuisine (Jamaican-inspired home-style comfort food; lunch registrations closed October 12)

“Open House” Tour of Music and Visual Culture in Athens (2 – 4:30 p.m.)

2 p.m. – 40 Watt Club – hosted by Kyle Tibbs Jones and Dave Whitling of the Bitter Southerner
2:45 p.m. – The Athenaeum – hosted by Katie Geha (director, the Dodd Galleries, UGA)
3:30 p.m. – Ciné Lab – Pop-up exhibition of photographs by Christy Bush with a signing of her book “Familiar,” published by the Bitter Southerner

Dinner on Your Own (5:30 – 7 p.m.)
Some options:

Cocktail Reception at The Humid (7:30 – 9:30 p.m.)
Founded by photographers Irina Rozovsky and Mark Steinmetz in 2018, The Humid is an educational space committed to the practice of rigorous and ambitious photography through a global community of artists. The Humid has issued a call for photographs of/with/about weather. Selected images will be part of Dew Point: a live, in-person photographic experience on October 22 with original musical score performed by Athens musician Oliver Domingo. The piece will be viewable online after the event for those unable to attend. This reception will be co-hosted by Ace / Francisco Gallery.

Parking

Parking for the Georgia Museum of Art is available in the Performing Arts Center (PAC) parking deck, which is located at the rear of lot E11 off River Road and is usually free on Saturdays and Sundays. The deck is managed by UGA Parking Services. Free parking is also available in surface lot E11 on Saturdays and Sundays. There is parking in the small lot located directly below the museum (accessible from Carlton Street) for visitors with disabilities.

For the afternoon events, all of which are in downtown Athens, we recommend parking in either the College Avenue Parking Deck or the West Washington Deck, both of which are a short walk from all the venues hosting events and cost $1 an hour. Street parking is $1.50 per hour and may require you to move your car.