LESLEE STRADFORD | PADRÃOS EXHIBITION
February 5th
Collages inspired by Herman L. Bennett's
'African Kings and Black Slaves: Sovereignty and Dispossession in the
Early Modern Atlantic'

February 12th | Padrãos Discussion
Leslee Stradford and Herman L. Bennett
This round table conversation explores and evaluates the past, establishing
the connection between history and the present black diaspora.

Herman L. Bennett is an international scholar on African culture and has lectured extensively on this topic. 
Leslee Stradford is an accomplished artist and activist who works in collage of history and outcome.
She has made four new works that tell this story and re-imagine its future in true Afrofuturist style.

Padrãos are stone pillars left by the Portuguese explorers in the 14th & 15th century to establish primary possession as they explored Western and Southern Africa. They were often placed on promontories and capes or at the mouths of the major rivers for maximum visibility and impact. Padrãos were carved in stone surmounted by a cross with a version of the Portuguese Coat of Arms. The most significant industry for these explorers was slavery so, over time the Padrãos became a powerful symbol representing ownership of the African people themselves.
A percentage of the sales will go to The Church.

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