Riverside Revival: Lift Every Voice and Sing

Basil Kincaid, Riverside Revival: Lift Every Voice and Sing, 2019-2021, clothes from the artist, donate clothes, donated corduroy, old choir robes from Black Churches in St. Louis, fragments of vintage quilts, Ghanaian fabric and embroidery, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Kenneth R. Trapp Acquisition Fund, 2021.50.1, © 2021, Basil Alexander Kincaid
Basil Kincaid, Riverside Revival: Lift Every Voice and Sing, 2019-2021, clothes from the artist, donate clothes, donated corduroy, old choir robes from Black Churches in St. Louis, fragments of vintage quilts, Ghanaian fabric and embroidery, overall: 77 12 × 52 78 in. (196.9 × 134.3 cm) [irregular], Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Kenneth R. Trapp Acquisition Fund, 2021.50.1, © 2021, Basil Alexander Kincaid

Artwork Details

Title
Riverside Revival: Lift Every Voice and Sing
Date
2019-2021
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
overall: 77 12 × 52 78 in. (196.9 × 134.3 cm) [irregular]
Copyright
© 2021, Basil Alexander Kincaid
Credit Line
Museum purchase through the Kenneth R. Trapp Acquisition Fund
Mediums
Mediums Description
clothes from the artist, donate clothes, donated corduroy, old choir robes from Black Churches in St. Louis, fragments of vintage quilts, Ghanaian fabric and embroidery
Classifications
Subjects
  • Abstract
  • Figure
  • Performing arts — music — voice
Object Number
2021.50.1

Artwork Description

This quilt tells a love story. The artist’s paternal grandparents met at a tent church revival in Arkansas, where his grandfather sang in a quartet. Old choir robes from Black churches in St. Louis make up the central figures extending their arms upwards in praise. The background comprises vintage quilts, donated clothing, and fabric from Ghana, chosen by the artist to honor how the women in his family have long made beautiful quilts from recycled clothes.


A seventh-generation quilter, Basil Kincaid connects personal and collective memories. He notes, “you can look at where the materials come from and decode the tapestry like a mythology. Future people may not know our religions, their rise and fall, but they will know that we drew energy from dancing and singing together by the riverside.”


The subtitle, Lift Every Voice and Sing, pays tribute to the poem-turned-song by brothers James Weldon Johnson and John Rosamond Johnson that became the canonical song of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and is often referred to as the Black national anthem.


This Present Moment: Crafting a Better World, 2022


Works by this artist (2 items)

Jaune Quick-To-See Smith, State Names, 2000, oil, collage and mixed media on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Elizabeth Ann Dugan and museum purchase, 2004.28
State Names
Date2000
oil, collage and mixed media on canvas
Not on view
Jaune Quick-To-See Smith, Untitled, from the portfolio Indian Self-Rule, 1983, color lithograph on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Institute of the American West, 1984.78.3, © Jaune Quick-To-See Smith
Untitled, from the portfolio Indian Self-Rule
Date1983
color lithograph on paper
Not on view

Exhibitions

Quilt featuring the portrait of a woman
This Present Moment: Crafting a Better World
May 13, 2022April 2, 2023
This Present Moment: Crafting a Better World showcases the dynamic landscape of American craft today.

More Artworks from the Collection

Rose Williams, Pot with Incised Decoration, ca. 1992, fired and incised clay with piñon pitch, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Chuck and Jan Rosenak and museum purchase made possible by Ralph Cross Johnson, 1997.124.183
Pot with Incised Decoration
Dateca. 1992
fired and incised clay with piñon pitch
On view
Tom Polacca, Pot with Sgraffito Butterfly Decoration, 1986, fired and sgraffito carved clay, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Chuck and Jan Rosenak and museum purchase made possible by Ralph Cross Johnson, 1997.124.169
Pot with Sgraffito Butterfly Decoration
Date1986
fired and sgraffito carved clay
Not on view
Faye Tso, Head of Emmett, ca. 1985, fired clay with piñon pitch, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Chuck and Jan Rosenak and museum purchase made possible by Ralph Cross Johnson, 1997.124.175
Head of Emmett
Dateca. 1985
fired clay with piñon pitch
Not on view
Jerry Brown, Untitled Face Jug, 1993, earthenware and glaze, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Martha and Pat Connell, 2000.97
Untitled Face Jug
Date1993
earthenware and glaze
Not on view