Miami Art Week - Prizm Art Fair presents: Black Talk, Back Talk: Capacities of Criticism

Miami Art Week is a firm fixture for many in the art world with Art Basel, Art Miami and UNTITLED being major pulls for visitors piling into the city for a week of discovery, social reunions and a sprinkling of viewing art somewhere in the mix.

During the 2019 edition, I was offered the opportunity to moderate the Black Talk, Back Talk: Capacities of Criticism panel as part of Prizm Art Fair and included panellists; Consultant and Author of Collecting African American Art: Works on Paper and Canvas, Halimah Taha; Writer, Critic and Founding Editor of ARTS.BLACK, Jessica Lynn and Professor of English at George Mason University, Shantay Robinson.

Founded by the powerhouse that is Mikhaile Solomon, Prizm Art Fair focuses on exhibiting work by dynamic artists from Africa and the Global Diaspora. It was my first time visiting the fair as well as being in Miami but I felt incredibly welcomed. I often think about communities and the imperative nature of support, it exists in abundance when we refer to the ties that we choose to nurture, but how can we translate this into our professional landscapes? How can we maintain the warmth and authenticity that exists in spaces that hold no immediate agenda? These questions are often rehashed, efforts made in working towards this with many failing woefully. In stark contrast to many of the fairs I have been to in the past, Prizm offered something that felt warm and familiar. The latter may be a consequence of being surrounded by a global diaspora which is in opposition to my daily working environment.

Occupancy of space is contentious. It is a constant push and pull between notions of giving, making, constructing and re-constructing. Who occupies this space with us and how does it evolve? These are my reflections post-conversation. The panel served as a way for black women in art to be in conversation with one another, exploring what it is that criticism meant to each individual and crucially the role it can play in pushing practice forward. When we look at who is next to us some part of us hopes that an honesty exists in being able to start or continue a critical dialogue about how we operate, navigate and communicate.

Let us be reminded of the importance of accountability, openness and the importance of exchange always.