Peabody Essex Museum To Host 'As We Rise' Black Photography Event For Juneteenth

SALEM, MA — The Peabody Essex Museum of Salem will honor Juneteenth this year with the photo exhibition "As We Rise: Photography from the Black Atlantic."

The exhibit, which is designed to explore Black identity through a compelling compilation of photographs from African diasporic culture, can be seen on June 19 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Drawn from Dr. Kenneth Montague's Wedge Collection in Toronto, a Black-owned collection dedicated to artists of African descent, "As We Rise" looks at experiences of Black life through the lenses of community, identity and power.

The exhibition features more than 100 works by Black artists from Canada, the Caribbean, Great Britain, the United States and South America, as well as throughout the African continent.

Black subjects depicted by Black photographers are presented as they wish to be seen — recognizing the complex strength, beauty and vulnerability of Black life.

Texas Isaiah, Liz Johnson Artur, Seydou Keïta, Deana Lawson, Jamel Shabazz and Carrie Mae Weems touch on themes of agency, beauty, joy, belonging, subjectivity and self-representation.

Writings by Isolde Brielmaier, Ugochukwu-Smooth C. Nzewi, Mark Sealy, Teka Selman and Deborah Willis, among others, provide insight and commentary on this monumental collection.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)