Community Baptism, Baba Ishangi Leads Exercise

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Copied Marilyn Nance, Community Baptism, Baba Ishangi Leads Exercise, 1986, gelatin silver print, sheet: 16 x 20 in. (40.7 x 50.8 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 1994.49.1, © 1986, Marilyn Nance

Artwork Details

Title
Community Baptism, Baba Ishangi Leads Exercise
Artist
Date
1986
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
sheet: 16 x 20 in. (40.7 x 50.8 cm.)
Copyright
© 1986, Marilyn Nance
Credit Line
Gift of the artist
Mediums Description
gelatin silver print
Classifications
Subjects
  • Portrait male — Ishangi, Baba
  • Landscape — beach — Riis Beach
  • Recreation — sport and play — exercising
  • Ceremony — religion — baptism
  • Landscape — New York
  • Figure group
  • African American
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