Black curators redirect Miami Art Week's attention to Black communities

In 2008, while exploring Art Basel on Miami Beach, Neil Hall observed a striking absence of Black galleries and artists in the showcased works. It surprised me because the diaspora produces immense creativity globally, yet it was missing here, Hall recalled. I realized that this situation was unacceptable.

A few years later, Hall, an architect based in Miami and founder of Art Africa gallery, teamed up with friends to organize a Black-focused event in Overtown, Miamis historically Black district known as the Harlem of the South. The group converted an empty parking lot near what is now the Red Rooster restaurant into a temporary art fair, later named Art Africa Miami.

Since its inception, Hall has fostered spaces for Black art during Miami Art Week, inspiring others to do the same. Black curators across Miami have transformed Art Week by highlighting neighborhoods such as Overtown and Opa-locka, encouraging visitors to engage directly with the communities and artists that shaped them.

In 2013, the first Soul Basel took place in Overtown. Opa-locka hosts the annual Art of Transformation exhibit, spreading across multiple blocks, while Miami Gardens runs LOUD Week, a four-day event featuring art, fashion, and entertainment. North Miami welcomes the AfriKin Art Fair, presenting weeklong exhibitions exploring belonging, identity, and cultural continuity. Local tourism groups, including the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau, actively support these initiatives.

Hall emphasized that showcasing Black art in these neighborhoods is vital, especially amid attempts to censor Black history, literature, and art. It is essential because others fear the immense talent within the Black community, he said. Our creativity is unstoppable.

Willie Logan, CEO of Ten North Group, shared this belief while curating The Art of Transformation, aiming to revitalize Opa-locka. One exhibit, At the Edge of Entanglement, illustrates how Black art intertwines cultural, historical, and political narratives. Logan noted that Black art plays a key role in educating communities about their heritage. In 2023, the event featured oversized covers of banned books to highlight censorship of works by Black, Brown, and queer authors in Florida schools.

This years showcase includes six exhibits, including African Diaspora Memory in Motion, with three 20-foot containers representing the journey from Africa to the Americas, and At the Edge of Entanglement: African American Contemporary Art, highlighting ten Black artists addressing identity, resistance, and renewal. Another exhibition presents conceptual plans for the forthcoming Florida Museum of Black History and Culture. Although Opa-locka was a finalist for the museums site, St. Johns County was ultimately chosen in 2024.

Logan stated that hosting art events within Black communities during Miami Art Week underscores the importance of allowing neighborhoods to narrate their own stories. It shows what Art Week can be when the community drives it, he said. It is grounded in history, organized, and designed for lasting impact.

Miamis diverse landscape has also become a platform for Caribbean artists. Marie Louissaints Art Beat Miami celebrates emerging and established Caribbean creators, featuring Haitian artists and others from the Caribbean diaspora in South Florida. Now in its 12th year, the event, supported by the Little Haiti Optimist Club, Welcome to Little Haiti, and Chefs of the Caribbean, has expanded from the Little Haiti Cultural Complex to the Joseph Caleb Center in Liberty City and Brightline Miami Central Station.

It is vital to display our culture, highlight the richness of our diversity, and take pride in our work, said Louissaint, the entrepreneur behind Art Beat Miami.

Halls initiative also inspired Chris Norwood, who curated a Soul Basel exhibit in 2018 at the Historic Ward Rooming House in Overtown, showcasing multiple Black artists. Initially intended as a one-time event, the exhibition continued through Black History Month and later evolved into quarterly showcases at the Historic Ward House. Norwood credited Hall with helping him see the potential for sustained African-American art spaces in South Florida.

Norwood eventually launched the Point Comfort Art Fair + Show at the Historic Ward Rooming House, now a staple of Miami Art Week. This years theme honors Frederick Douglass, inspired by his 1861 speech Pictures and Progress. The exhibition highlights contemporary African American artists whose work engages with Douglass vision of dignity, identity, and progress. Norwood explained that Douglass leveraged art and photography to counteract harmful stereotypes and affirm Black humanity and intellect.

Ensuring community access is crucial for organizers. Exhibits in Overtown and Opa-locka remain free during Miami Art Week. History should be accessible in good times and bad, Logan said. Without understanding your past, it is impossible to navigate the future.

Although Hall no longer hosts Art Africa in Overtown, he declines invitations to curate or present shows on Miami Beach. If our work is impactful, people should make the journey to Overtown, he stated.

Author: Sophia Brooks