Community Baptism, Baba Ishangi Leads Exercise

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Copied Marilyn Nance, Community Baptism, Baba Ishangi Leads Exercise, 1986, gelatin silver print, sheet: 1620 in. (40.750.8 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 1994.49.1, © 1986, Marilyn Nance

Artwork Details

Title
Community Baptism, Baba Ishangi Leads Exercise
Date
1986
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
sheet: 1620 in. (40.750.8 cm.)
Copyright
© 1986, Marilyn Nance
Credit Line
Gift of the artist
Mediums Description
gelatin silver print
Classifications
Keywords
  • Figure group
  • African American
  • Landscape — New York
  • Ceremony — religion — baptism
  • Recreation — sport and play — exercising
  • Landscape — beach — Riis Beach
  • Portrait male — Ishangi, Baba
Object Number
1994.49.1

Artwork Description

Nance’s photographs examine ways that people of color practice religions connected with their African heritage. In Community Baptism, Baba Ishangi Leads Exercise, Nance presents a nontraditional scene of a group of men, women, and children on a beach, mostly barefoot, who take part in a rite of renewal. The photographer’s shadow at the lower right reveals that she, too, is part of the image.


African American Art: Harlem Renaissance, Civil Rights Era, and Beyond, 2012