BMA to Present Black Earth Rising Exploring Ties Between Contemporary Climate Crisis and Colonialism

Exhibition to feature important works by Firelei Báez, Teresita Fernandez, Sky Hopinka, Yinka Shonibare, and Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, among others

BALTIMORE, MD (December 17, 2024)—On May 18, the Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) will open Black Earth Rising, a timely exhibition that examines the connections between the climate crisis and colonialism through profoundly beautiful works by contemporary African diasporic, Latin American, and Native American artists. Organized by celebrated curator and writer Ekow Eshun, the exhibition features some of today’s most acclaimed artists, including Firelei Báez, Alejandro Piñeiro Bello, Frank Bowling, Teresita Fernández, Todd Gray, Sky Hopinka, Wangechi Mutu, Yinka Shonibare, and Jaune Quick-to-See Smith. Together, their works highlight the ways that artists of color are engaging with the splendor of nature as a means of liberation and reclamation, while also offering audiences opportunities to consider the historical trajectory of today’s climate crisis. Black Earth Rising is a ticketed exhibition organized as part of the BMA’s Turn Again to the Earth initiative, which explores environmental issues through a range of exhibitions and programs, as well as sustainability planning. It will remain on view through September 21, 2025.

“As the world grapples with one of the most pressing issues of our time, I couldn’t think of a better interlocutor than Ekow to bring this necessary exhibition to our audiences. Black Earth Rising brings forward the boundless imagination and perspectives of incredible artists and urges us to rethink climate change through its historical roots,” said Asma Naeem, the BMA’s Dorothy Wagner Wallis Director. “Black Earth Rising will also stir the senses and pull on our consciences, and hopefully provoke us to new pathways of understanding and action. Each of the exhibitions in Turn Again to the Earth are polyphonic, at turns joyful and sobering, and for all of our community, no matter your background.”

Black Earth Rising emerges from the concept of the “Plantationocene,” developed by scholar Donna Haraway and anthropologist Anna Tsing, which suggests that our human-made climate crisis can be traced to the 1500s. The 16th century was marked by a rise in forced migration and labor, plantation agriculture, and global commerce as European powers settled the New World. These currents helped establish the foundation for the ongoing decimation of Native lands and ecosystems, the extraction of natural resources, the creation of unsustainable commercial practices, and the social, political, and environmental inequities that plague communities across the globe. In North America, environmental policies and dialogues have yet to fully acknowledge the displacement of Indigenous peoples and issues of systemic racism.

Against this backdrop, Black Earth Rising positions artists of color as central to our understanding of climate change. The paintings, sculpture, film, and works on paper created by the featured artists grapple with the impacts of cultural displacement and the legacies of slavery, and at the same time, many of these artists find healing, liberation, and transcendence in nature. In this way, artists are uniquely positioned to shift the direction of environmental conversations—by both reflecting on the persistent ramifications of colonialism and celebrating the power of nature to offer experiences of extraordinary beauty, joy, and respite. The artworks in the show are as vividly colored, dynamic, and ecstatic as they are thoughtful and moving. They inspire optimism even as we confront the history and future of climate change.

The exhibition’s name is taken from terra preta—Portuguese for “black soil”—which refers to a type of fertile earth found in the Amazon Basin that was created by ancient Indigenous civilizations many thousands of years ago through a process of intentional soil management. During the colonial period, European powers’ suppression and erasure of Indigenous knowledge systems, such as the means of creating terra preta, contributed to deforestation and soil degradation in the Amazon Basin. Recent decades have witnessed a renewed interest in Indigenous land management practices as sustainable alternatives to conventional agriculture. This rediscovery has highlighted the resilience and innovation of Indigenous peoples and challenged colonial narratives that dismissed their knowledge and contributions to environmental stewardship.

Guest curator Ekow Eshun noted, “Black Earth Rising brings together artists exploring questions of history, power, climate crisis, and social and environmental justice—and who are doing so through artworks of powerful insight, and great resonance and beauty. Their artworks reach to the poetic and lyrical rather than the didactic, and summon something of the joy and sorrow that comes with being denizens of a planet whose fragility becomes more apparent with each passing day.”

The exhibition is organized by guest curator Ekow Eshun with support from Katie Cooke, BMA Manager of Curatorial Affairs.

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About Ekow Eshun

Turn Again to the Earth

About the Baltimore Museum of Art

Founded in 1914, the Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) inspires people of all ages and backgrounds through exhibitions, programs, and collections that tell an expansive story of art—challenging long-held narratives and embracing new voices. Our outstanding collection of more than 97,000 objects spans many eras and cultures and includes the world’s largest public holding of works by Henri Matisse; one of the nation’s finest collections of prints, drawings, and photographs; and a rapidly growing number of works by contemporary artists of diverse backgrounds. The museum is also distinguished by a neoclassical building designed by American architect John Russell Pope and two beautifully landscaped gardens featuring an array of modern and contemporary sculpture. The BMA is located three miles north of the Inner Harbor, adjacent to the main campus of Johns Hopkins University, and has a community branch at Lexington Market. General admission is free so that everyone can enjoy the power of art.