THE BLACK FAMILY HOME and the general dismissals and refutations of our experiences that accompany the lopsided power dynamics of white gaze, choosing art for our homes is an opportunity for us to be not only seen but recognized, celebrated as being central to the narrative and remembered as we are instead of as someone else prefers to see us. It is the presence of these feelings, among others, that provides us with the sense of safety that enables us to feel at home in our spaces. Like all foundations, these fundamental needs are only the beginning — the ends towards which we design. How we express ourselves, the means through which we reach those ends, is as widely diverse as the number of experiences that we have and the ways in which we are able to see and convey them. Like every other part of a designed space, the unique ways in which art is employed in the individual home is a reflection of the people who inhabit the space and the things that ultimately makes them feel at home. Though this is the first house we’ve owned, this farmhouse is the latest in a series of homes we’ve shared in various cities across the country, starting with the first apartment we shared in Philadelphia in the early 2000s. While the homes were as different as the cities they were located in, the simple fact that we were together was what made each of them feel like home. Our art collection, like the house itself, is a celebration of the relationship that brought us here. Pieces that were picked up as we moved to DC, California, back home to Pennsylvania, and then to New York and sourced during trips to Morocco, France, Italy, and Germany, have been with us on the journey, helping us to tell our own story of home. As we were designing the AphroFarmhouse, a lot of thought went into planning the way that the art we’ve collected over the years would work in the space. One of the first decisions was to create a series of themes that would not only connect the art in different rooms, but connect the rooms themselves. Through paintings, sculptures, photographs, and even condiment dispensers, the art in the AphroFarmhouse reflects what’s most important to us. Moreover, different rooms highlight different art media. In the living room there is a clear emphasis on sculpture, while the library focuses more on imagery, with book covers displayed as art pieces and framed photography and figurative paintings on display. Yet one of the biggest overarching themes you’ll see when looking at our collection is the balance of masculine and feminine energies. Too often, as African Americans, we find ourselves divided by sex in mass media representations as well as in our internal conversations. The Battle of the Sexes is a divide-and-conquer trope to which we have proven to be fairly susceptible. And while there are valid experiences behind these narratives, the fetishization of Black women and the disappearance and attendant conservatization of Black men is built on the foundation of separation that it provides. As a counter-narrative, in our curation we work to create a balance of masculinity and femininity in the pieces that we choose and the ways that they are displayed. An heirloom velvet painting of Issac Hayes in the kitchen, a 3D printed bust of T’Challa (The Black Panther) in the library and the Jamal Bust in our living room, all bring overt attention to the Black male as a figure of artistic attention, calling to memory the important men in our lives 20 aphrochic
Opposite page, left: A framed art print of an African American couple by Brazilian-based ThingDesign is an ode to Black love. Opposite page, right: An Ife sculpture from Nigeria was discovered while exploring the souks in the medina of Marrakech. This page, above: A surrealist self-portrait by Spanish photographer Fares Micue is one of the feminine guardians in the library. issue fourteen 21
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