From June 30 through Aug.18 the library will host “Celestial Bodies: Precolonial Black African Queer Identity,” an exhibition in the second-floor Reading Room, which brings together new works by 2025 maker-in-residence Rashad Malik Davis. As he explains in his description of the show, “This exhibition seeks to understand how Africans of various cultures and ethnic groups not only viewed but celebrated individuals and narratives that we would recognize today as within the LGBTQIA+ realm.” Recently, I had an opportunity to catch up with Rashad and to ask him a few questions about his work.
Q: Your exhibition brings together a reflection on huge themes, such as the cosmos and the entire continental history of Africa, with the intimacy of personal identity. How do you understand the relationship between these macrocosmic and microcosmic scales and how does this exhibition bring that understanding into focus?
A: Africa is a massive continent, but through my research, there is a pattern or thread that I find consistent among many of the cultures there. The ancient Kemetic people (Egyptians), for example, believed in this idea of “As above, so below.” (This idea comes from the hermetic writings found in the “Emerald Tablet” in Kemet. These were originally written in Ancient Kemetic, then into Greek, and then it reached Renaissance scholars). This idea that the complexity and beauty of the cosmos could be found here on Earth is so beautiful to me. That the macrocosm (the universe) could be found here within us (the microcosm). And the more we study the stars, the more we understand this ancient wisdom. We (human beings) are quite literally made up of the same elements as the stars (carbon, oxygen, etc. were forged in the hearts of stars). I take the view that we are not separate from nature, from each other, or whatever you define as “human spirit,” “God” or the “universe.” This exhibition takes the microcosm (Queer, Black, African) and maps it onto the macrocosms of history and the cosmos to bring an understanding of their importance, beauty and relevance. They’re all deeply related and deeply beautiful.
Q: The exhibition features both acrylic paintings and wooden panel board masks—why have you chosen these media and how have they figured into the traditions of art production upon which you’ve drawn and into your own practice?
I’m typically a digital illustrator and painter, so this whole thing is a welcome challenge for me. I’ve been wanting to push myself for some time, and working with traditional media was the perfect way for me to do that. There’s no “UNDO” button so to speak, so this process makes me a much more conscientious artist! Eventually I’d love to work my way up to oil, but for now acrylic is a stunning medium with lots of vibrant color and opportunities to play. And with wood, I wanted to tap into two things. Firstly, I wanted to tap into this idea that’s constant within many traditional African religions that all pieces of nature are aspects of a divine source. Since wood is a living being, I figured this was a natural way to represent that. Secondly, I also wanted to pay homage to my ancestors who used wood and other natural materials to create ancestral masks. Masks are significant as they are not just beautiful objects to be observed. They were used in ceremonies, in transitional rites and beyond. They are also an embodiment of ancestors, of powerful spirits. These are items that have power. This idea of the continuity of life – from the wood, to the representation of the ancestors who I’ve depicted and that I intend to live through that wood symbolically, is significant to me. It all just kind of flowed naturally.
Q: This exhibition arrives at the library just as LGBTQIA+ Pride Month concludes and you write in your description of the exhibition that it “tells a small yet fascinating piece of the story of the African continent’s rich, queer and gender-nonconforming story.” Could you say a little more about that story? Which figures and deities featured in your art best exemplify that story?
A: I should clarify that when I say story, it should really say “stories.” These stories are so often left out of the tapestry of Queer narratives (which so often in the U.S.A. are mainly White, male, cis-gendered, and able-bodied. These narratives are great of course, but there’s so much more.) There is such an abundance in the historical record indicating that not only did Queer people exist in Africa before colonialism. We also thrived and held significant roles in everyday life, especially in the state and sacred or religious realm (since the two often got conflated). One of my favorite examples depicted in my work are Nyankh-Khnum and Khnum-hotep of Ancient Kemet (Egypt). The two men were identified as “Overseers of the Manicurists of the Palace of the Pharaoh,” and were governors for Pharaoh Nyuserre – the 6th pharaoh of the 5th Dynasty. What is especially interesting about them, however, is that in their burial chamber they were found buried together – as to suggest that they would spend their eternal afterlives as one. This was very significant to this culture. Ancient Kemetic people invested a great deal in the afterlife, and tombs were incredibly expensive. And in the medu netjer (hieroglyphs) that depicted them, they were depicted in an intimate pose – nose to nose and holding hands. While they both had wives and children, as depicted, in the hieroglyph, what was highlighted was their relationship as judged by the size of the men compared to their families. While their relationship is debated or refuted (as gay narratives in history so often are – the good old “they were roommates narrative”), what’s clear is that: they were very fond of each other, were held in high regard and esteem, were nobility, and had a relationship that was destined to be written in the stars for all time. If that’s not a gay romance novel, I don’t know what is. Beyond this, I really also love the beings known as the nommo from the Dogon culture. In short, these are intersex, cosmic, mermaid beings who came to Earth to impart their knowledge of the cosmos unto humanity. Their duality as both male and female suggests that there was not only an understanding of intersex individuals, but also that there was a deep regard for their spiritual significance as well. We see this played out many times in indigenous cultures across the globe – Queer people being able to access both the male and female aspects of the cosmos’ duality. Malidoma Patrice Some, an incredible elder from Burkina Faso whom I had the opportunity to meet, talked about this in an article entitled “Gays: Guardians of the Gates” by Bert H. Hoff.
Q: What do you hope visitors to your exhibition will take away from their experience with your art?
A: I hope firstly that visitors will appreciate the amount of work that went into the art, research, and general production of this exhibition. This is my first large-scale exhibition like this, and it was a doozy in terms of workload. So grateful to Princeton Public Library for its support! But more importantly, I hope that people leave with a sense of historical weight. I want people to know that Queerness is universal. That it is an essential aspect of the human story, and that native African beliefs considered us, in many instances, divine. Especially now, when those in power are trying to erase our stories, this matters. I want people to know that we had and still have a deep, sacred purpose. I want people to think about the people in their lives who may be part of the LGBTQIA+ community, and think of how they may be special to them; to think perhaps of ways to best support them and let them know they’re loved and needed. And I want people who may identify on that spectrum, especially Black Queer individuals, to know that they are so deeply loved and that their existence mattered then, now, and it always will.
Rashad Malik Davis is an author, illustrator, educator and dreamer. He is a graduate of Tufts University where he majored in anthropology and minored in Mandarin Chinese. Davis is the illustrator of the best-selling children’s book “Sunne’s Gift: How Sunne Overcame Bullying to Reclaim God’s Gift.” His debut venture into publishing his own work, “Carefree, Like Me!: Chapter 1 – Root the Brave,” won the 2017 Best Indie Book Award in the Children’s Category, and his second book, “Carefree, Like Me! Chapter 2: Sacra the Joyous”, followed in 2018. The seven-part series has themes of cultural diversity and inclusion, fantasy, empathy and emotional literacy throughout, and is inspired by his own life experiences with his real-life best friend Nina, his connection to his spirituality, and his love of adventure tales. He is represented by Sera Rivers of Spielburg Literary Agency. For additional information, visit ramalikillustrations.com.
Photo Credit: courtesy of the Rashad Malik Davis.