Uploaded August 2021 | Updated September 2026, 1 day ago
In her National Book Award–winning debut collection, Voyage of the Sable Venus, poet Robin Coste Lewis both narrates and investigates the experience of black women across time and geography. To create the section that gave the book its title, Lewis first conducted countless hours of research in museums and compiled the titles and descriptions of works of art and craft (dated between 38,000 BCE and the present) that featured the images of black women. She then rearranged the titles to create what is at once an elegy for the black women in these artworks and an indictment of the violence done in the writing of Western art history.
For the keynote lecture of the John Wilmerding Symposium on American Art, “American Communities, Then and Now,” held on February 8, 2019, Lewis presented “Boarding the Voyage,” the epilogue to a new edition of Voyage of the Sable Venus, discussing the ways her project blends poetry, art history, and autobiography.
Learn more about the National Gallery and the collection: nga.gov/collection.html
The John Wilmerding Symposium on American Art is made possible by a generous grant from The Walton Family Foundation.
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In her National Book Award–winning debut collection, Voyage of the Sable Venus, poet Robin Coste Lewis both narrates and investigates the experience of black women across time and geography. To create the section that gave the book its title, Lewis first conducted countless hours of research in museums and compiled the titles and descriptions of works of art and craft (dated between 38,000 BCE and the present) that featured the images of black women. She then rearranged the titles to create what is at once an elegy for the black women in these artworks and an indictment of the violence done in the writing of Western art history.
For the keynote lecture of the John Wilmerding Symposium on American Art, “American Communities, Then and Now,” held on February 8, 2019, Lewis presented “Boarding the Voyage,” the epilogue to a new edition of Voyage of the Sable Venus, discussing the ways her project blends poetry, art history, and autobiography.
Learn more about the National Gallery and the collection: nga.gov/collection.html
The John Wilmerding Symposium on American Art is made possible by a generous grant from The Walton Family Foundation.
Still haven’t subscribed to our YouTube channels?
National Gallery of Art ►►youtube.com/NationalGalleryofArtUS
National Gallery of Art Talks ►►youtube.com/NationalGalleryofArtTalks
ABOUT THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART
The National Gallery of Art serves the nation by welcoming all people to explore and experience art, creativity, and our shared humanity.
More National Gallery of Art Content:
Facebook: facebook.com/nationalgalleryofart
Twitter: twitter.com/ngadc
Instagram: instagram.com/ngadc
Pinterest: pinterest.com/ngadc/_created
E-News: nga.us4.list-manage.com/subscribe/post?u=e894a1837aca4526f7e8a11b3&id=2085ff9475
#Art #NationalGalleryOfArt #Wilmerding #TheWaltonFamilyFoundation #GordonParks #RobinCosteLewis #MelaneeCHarvey #CharlesWhite #KellieJones #RichardJPowell #ArchibaldMotley #LauraWexler #DevinAllen #EricGottesman #RickLowe #MasequaMyers
