BUFFALO, N.Y. — "It's absolutely historic."
That's how Aitina Fareed-Cooke describes "In These Truths," the show she co-curated with Edreys Wajed and Public Art Curator Aaron Ott. It's the final exhibit for the Albright-Knox's temporary home on Northland Avenue, while their new museum is being built on Elmwood Avenue.
"We don't necessarily see ourselves, Black artists, in certain spaces. Especially on a platform like Albright," Fareed-Cooke told 2 On Your Side.
"In These Truths" features the work of 23 Black artists, all living and working across North America.
"Especially being that this space right now is in the East Side of Buffalo, people who live in this space should see work that represents or resembles them," Fareed-Cooke said.
Wajed says they chose artists from different nations and representing all ages to be as inclusive as possible.
"Everybody has a different background. Some people are from Trinidad, Canada, all over the United States," he said. "If we said 'In This Truth,' then that would kind of suggest that 23 people all share the same, exact same, experience and that's not the case here at all."
Curator of Public Art Aaron Ott says the idea for the exhibition came out of conversations with neighbors when they first made the move to Northland in 2019.
"The community really urged us to think consciously about the location and what it meant for representation of people in the Black community," he said.
Ott says inclusion will continue to be a central focus with the Buffalo AKG Museum opens next year.
"I think the platform of the AKG on Elmwood when we open will really take a lot of the lessons that we've learned here at Northland," he said. "Being embedded in a community, seeing the generosity that has come from that."
Fareed-Cooke and Wajed hope those important discussions continue beyond this neighborhood, long after their show closes.
"It's the beauty of the pieces, it's the stories, it's the heart. It's the mind, the soul, it's the art," said Fareed-Cooke, who is also known for her poetry. "It's everything. Twenty-three black artists, 59 pieces of work, I'm pretty sure anyone that walks into this door is going to see themselves in some kind of way."
"There's a lot of healing that we need to do in our community," Wajed said. "I think this was, for a lot of people that weren't familiar with Black artists, Black culture, you know, things of that nature, this was a great primer. A great primer to at least check your biases, check your discrimination, you know, check your awareness, those kind of things. So, I think this was part of it. A good kick start, springboard for those conversations in Buffalo."
AK Northland will be giving all pay-what-you-wish donations for admission from the final weekends of the show to Feed Buffalo, Every Bottom Covered, and the African Heritage Co-Op.
More information is available here.