As we Rise: Photographs from the Black Atlantic now on display at the
Peabody Essex Museum Salem, Massachusetts.
In 1997, Dr. Kenneth Montague created a gallery in the hallways of his Toronto house. The gallery was dedicated to the display of photographs by Black artists. In the new Aperture book as We Rise: Photographs from the Black Atlantic he explains that the first exhibition was set up in a way similar to a Sunday afternoon’s salon.
The Wedge Collection was born from this unique wedge-shaped room. The project expanded from there. Today, the influential collection contains more than 400 works. Selected pieces are currently on display at the Peabody Essex Museum, Massachusetts.
Aperture has organized a book and an exhibition that includes some of the most influential artists and images from the history of photography. These include Carrie Mae Weems and Deana Lawson as well as Jamel Shabazz and Seydou Sidibe. The 100 works by Black artists from Canada, America, Great Britain and South America are based on three themes: Community; Identity and Power.
In an interview conducted with curator and photo-editor Liz Ikiriko Dr. Montague recalled his mother taking him, his siblings and their friends to museums and historical societies during the 1970s. He remembers looking at a photograph by James Van Der Zee, Couple In Raccoon Coats, a portrait of an elegant Black couple during the Harlem Renaissance. At the time, he was ten.
This moment of revelation would stay with him for decades. It inspired him to search out photos by Black artists who accurately reflected Black Life, across continents and generations. Couple In Raccoon Coatsis part of the Wedge Collection. It was one of Dr. Montague’s first purchases. The Peabody Essex Museum has a close-up view of the silver gelatin print.
His mother’s early museum visits are a great example of the influence both Dr. Montague and his parents have had on him. As We Rise is a title that was given by his father who said “lifting as one rises” to describe how important it is to lift others up through your own successes and triumphs. Many of these artists have become household names today, but Dr. Montague is one of the first collectors who recognized their work.
A spirit of trust and collaboration is the thread that connects portraits taken by photographers from the Harlem Renaissance up to the Black Renaissance today. Every portrait shows Black people as they really are, as they want to be seen. These wishes are kept as promises.
Dr. Montague spent many decades travelling the world, meeting artists and sharing his stories in the book and the exhibition. He met Oumar Ly while visiting Malick Sidibe, Mali. He wrote, “I was awed by the magnitude of this moment: Two of the greatest photographers of their time, meeting for the very first time.”
The Wedge collection takes its name literally from the living room of Dr. Montague, where it all began. It also has a deeper meaning for the collector. In a conversation with Liz Ikiriko he explained that his goal was to create a space, or a “wedge”, for historically underrepresented artists in the canon.
This exhibition shows that space does not have to be limited by the four walls of your living room, or even a traditional museum. This is a living breathing space as vast as the artist’s knowledge, experience and imagination. The stories that are contained in the 184 pages make up this book span thousands of miles.