DESCENT & TRANSFORMATION, VOL. I: VOYAGES TO THE AMERICAS

“Descent & Transformation, Vol. I: Voyages to the Americas” is an artistic exploration of the Black Pacific and ocean memory inspired by the voyages to and from the continent of Africa to the Americas, the Caribbean, Mexico and California. The exhibition features sixteen artists from the east and west coasts of the United States, and the midwest, south and Hawaii. It is the central public programming element for the UCI Humanities Center’s “Routes of Enslavement in the Americas” project, funded by the University of California Office of the President Multicampus Research Programs and Initiatives (MRPI). The exhibition and its related events are also connected to the Intra-American Slave Trade Database, created by UC Irvine professor Alex Borucki, and UC Santa Cruz professor Gregory O’Malley, and launched in 2018 as part of slavevoyages.org, the online compilation of information on the trade in human beings from the African continent that is currently headquartered at Rice University in Houston, Texas.