AphroChic Magazine: Issue No. 14

THE BLACK FAMILY HOME
Art as Expression in the Black Family Home
Art is an incredibly versatile design tool. It can be the
finishing touch to a room or the starting point. Pieces can
work together or skillfully clash. Occasionally, it can even
be the solution to problems that can’t be solved in any other
way. In all of its forms, painting, sculpture or otherwise, art
can be very overt, making clear statements of a cultural,
social or even political nature, writing the perspective of the
collector into the space in clear and unmistakable terms. In
the Black family home, art is much more than just an investment,
a showcase of status, or flossing. It has a larger and
more important function in our homes — collecting is a form
of self-expression.
In APHROCHIC: Celebrating the Legacy of the Black
Family Home, we present and explore the idea of approaching
a specifically African American design perspective as a
cultural artifact that serves to meet the needs of the people
who create it. Specifically, we identify five needs that design
in the Black family home serves: Safety, Control, Visibility,
Celebration, and Memory. Collectively — though not exclusively
— these five combine to create the feeling of the Black
family home; that vibe that we recognize and cherish and
that we miss when we’re away from it for too long. And art
has a significant role in helping us to find each one.
Control, the freedom to make the choices we want to
make is inherent to design and to picking art for our rooms.
As Black people in America there are few places where we
enjoy the measure of control that we experience at home
and choosing how we decorate our walls, from the images
of Malcolm and Martin that many of us grew up with, to
contemporary works of modern art and photography, is
important in how we express ourselves at home. Similarly,
art can help provide a sense of visibility, celebration, and
memory that is often lacking outside of our houses.
Away from stereotypes, caricature, misrecognitions
A gorgeous hand-beaded
mask from Gabon sits on
the shelf in the library.
The Black Family Home is an
ongoing series focusing on the
history and future of what home
means for Black families.
This series inspired the new book
AphroChic: Celebrating the Legacy
of the Black Family Home.
Words and Photos by Jeanine Hays and Bryan Mason
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