Black and AAPINH Youth Explore Transgenerational Trauma at the 2022 True NM Art Exhibit.
The New Mexico Black Leadership Council and the New Mexico Asian Family Center hosted the True NM art show on May 28th, 2022. True NM is an anti-racism art initiative collaboration launched by NMBLC and NMAFC in 2021. The art is the work of youth who self-identify as Black and/or AAPINH heritage. This year’s exhibit, titled “Outside the Shell” is based on a quote by Zora Neale Hurston:
“The present was an egg laid by the past that had the future inside its shell.”
— Zora Neale Hurston
Family, friends, community members, and city press attended the vibrant event at the NMBLC headquarters on a Saturday afternoon. The artists, ranging in age from 13 to 23, were on deck to talk about their art pieces with guests. LeeCooks Church, a Black-owned business out of Taos, made the trip down to cater the event with a delicious and vegan-friendly spread.
The art on installation in “Outside the Shell” displayed a wide variety of mediums. Everything from acrylic, mixed media, sculpture, collage, animation, and video were represented. The inspiration for the art began with the desire to break apart the tri-cultural myth: that New Mexico is an ideal, harmonious blend of Anglo, Hispanic, and Indigenous people. Missing from this picture is the presence of Black/African American and Asian American, Pacific Islander, and Native Hawaiian (AAPINH) communities. The True NM anti-racism initiative asks young artists to explore the question “What’s your True New Mexican story?” Their answers included themes of identity, family, colorism, societal pressure, racist violence, and transgenerational trauma.
Transgenerational trauma (also called intergenerational trauma) is defined as the ways that adversity experienced by our ancestors gets passed down through generations on a physical, behavioral, emotional, psychological, and cellular level. Jurnee Smollett, co-star of HBO’s Lovecraft Country, referred to this as “blood memory.”
True NM artist Prajeeta Dahal, in describing her painting, said that transgenerational trauma affects a person whether they are aware of it or not. Ané Careaga-Coleman, in their video essay, illustrates how the anime series Fruits Basket helped them understand and deal with this phenomenon in their own life. It’s through this deepening awareness that one can begin to examine and interrupt the detrimental effects of the pain from our parents, and their parents, that impact us to this day. Exploration through artistic expression is one of the ways we can begin to transform our lives and create a thriving legacy for future generations.
Check out the photo gallery from the True NM “Outside the Shell” art exhibit event below. Click on a photo to view it full size in a new window.
Watch coverage of the True NM “Outside the Shell” art exhibit event from KOAT.
The project was made possible by funds received by the AAPI Civic Engagement Fund through an Anti-Racism Response Network Grant and the New Mexico Humanities Council.
Shannon Moreau is the Editor for the NMBLC EQ Blog