An exhibition exploring the undertold stories of African American artists who sought new possibilities, inspiration and environments in the Nordic countries in the 20th century opens at Scandinavia House on November 26, 2024. Nordic Utopia? African Americans in the 20th Century looks at the significance of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden as destinations for African American cultural figures including Doug Crutchfield, Herb Gentry, Dexter Gordon, William Henry Johnson, Howard Smith and Walter Williams through a range of artifacts, artworks (music, paintings, drawings, sculpture, ceramics, textiles), and documentary evidence (photography, film, and journalistic writing). Organized by the National Nordic Museum in Seattle by co-curators and ASF Fellows Dr. Ethelene Whitmire and Leslie Anne Anderson, where it debuted in March 2024, the exhibition will now be on view at Scandinavia House through March 9, 2025.
During the 20th century, African Americans visited, performed, studied, and lived in the Nordic countries for a variety of reasons: a sense of adventure, love, seeking educational and occupational opportunities, freedom to explore their sexuality, freedom from Jim Crow segregation, among many other reasons. Drawing from paintings, photographs, textiles, film, music, and dance, this exhibition captures their journeys as their sense of who they were was transformed through their Nordic encounters. Nordic Utopia? African Americans in the 20th Century is the first comprehensive examination of the stories of these African American visual and performing artists, and features loans from the Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC; the David C. Driskell Center at the University of Maryland, College Park; SMK—the National Gallery of Denmark; and Moderna Museet in Stockholm, among other public collections. It also assembles art and artifacts from private collections, including those of the artists.
The exhibition will be accompanied by a fully illustrated catalog co-edited by curators Dr. Ethelene Whitmire and Leslie Anne Anderson as well as a range of programs including guided gallery tours, workshops, panels and films.
Nordic Utopia? African Americans in the 20th Century has been organized by the National Nordic Museum, Seattle. Inspired by her original research, this exhibition was curated by Dr. Ethelene Whitmire, Professor of African American Studies, University of Wisconsin, Madison; and Leslie Anne Anderson, Chief Curator, National Nordic Museum, Seattle. The national tour has been made possible through generous support from The Terra Foundation for American Art, Laurie C. Black, Nordic Kulturfond Globus Grant, Microsoft, City of Seattle Office of Arts & Culture, Hugh and Jane Ferguson Foundation, and ArtsFund Guendolen Carkeek Plestcheef Fund for Decorative and Design Arts. Presentation at Scandinavia House has been made possible in part by the following: The Bonnier Family Fund for Contemporary Art, The F. Donald Kenney Fund for Visual Arts, The Kronquist Mesaros Memorial Endowment Fund, The Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation, The Tova Borgnine Bequest, and The Birgitta Dill Estate.
IMAGE—Walter Williams, Southern Landscape, 1977–78 (Detail), Collection of the David C. Driskell Center at the University of Maryland College Park
Nordic Utopia? African Americans in the 20th Century has been organized by the National Nordic Museum, Seattle. Inspired by her original research, this exhibition was curated by Dr. Ethelene Whitmire, Professor of African American Studies, University of Wisconsin, Madison; and Leslie Anne Anderson, Chief Curator, National Nordic Museum, Seattle. The national tour has been made possible through generous support from The Terra Foundation for American Art, Laurie C. Black, Nordic Kulturfond Globus Grant, Microsoft, City of Seattle Office of Arts & Culture, Hugh and Jane Ferguson Foundation, and ArtsFund Guendolen Carkeek Plestcheef Fund for Decorative and Design Arts. Presentation at Scandinavia House has been made possible in part by the following: The Bonnier Family Fund for Contemporary Art, The F. Donald Kenney Fund for Visual Arts, The Kronquist Mesaros Memorial Endowment Fund, The Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation, The Tova Borgnine Bequest, and The Birgitta Dill Estate.
