Curated by Donnamarie Baptiste
The Crown We Never Take Off is a celebration of Black achievement and a strikingly brilliant exploration of hair customs and rituals so deeply entrenched that neither time nor distance have erased them. This exhibition applauds the overlooked efforts of Black entrepreneurs and creatives with a gifted group of visionaries who, like the Richards family, push boundaries and excel despite the odds.
Connecting traditions to the continent while remaining innovative, these artists weave their own rich histories with the realities of the world to create an affirmative place where Blackness thrives, while synonymously documenting the culture in extraordinary ways. Their work makes a bold statement about the power of African identities, and repositions Eurocentric art history and definitions of beauty.
Prime Video’s RICHES is an alluring, engaging, and artful drama that centers around the Richards family–a Black dynasty in turmoil–as five siblings vie for control of their family’s beauty brand. RICHES allows audiences to see an authentic expression of blackness in traditionally white-owned spaces. The intention of our space is to recreate the feeling of watching Riches for the first time — celebrating the freedom of Black expression and identity. When Black people are the authors of their own identity, we get stories like RICHES; new artforms, new thoughtforms and eventually new trends that permeate through to popular culture.
Links:
The Crown We Never Take Off (Official Site)