In celebration of Black History Month, the School of Architecture and Community Development (SACD), in collaboration with the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences at Detroit Mercy, will host a month-long exhibition designed by Elgin Cleckley, NOMA. The exhibition will kick off with a public lecture and exhibition opening on Feb. 6 at 4 p.m. in the Warren Loranger Architecture Building Exhibition Space.
The exhibition revisits the drawings and methods British abolitionists once used to show the harsh conditions aboard the Brookes Slave Ship (1781-1804). It includes models representing each of the ship’s 11 voyages, along with full-scale sections from its third voyage, which carried 740 enslaved people, based on historical records. These models are paired with drawings that reflect the 43 days spent crossing the Middle Passage.
At the exhibition opening, Cleckley will join Detroit-based art historian Samantha Noël to discuss the research and creative process behind the exhibition and stories it highlights about the Middle Passage.
Cleckley is an associate professor of Architecture and the undergraduate program director at Detroit Mercy. He leads _mpathic design, a multi-award-winning pedagogy, initiative and professional practice, and has collaborated on multiple award-winning civic projects. Cleckley was a Muschenheim Fellow at the University of Michigan and has taught at the University of Illinois, Chicago.
The free exhibition will run from Feb. 6 through 27, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. or by appointment.