creative forces

Blog 6... February 2012

Using art forms as a vehicle for political statements can range from agitprop theatre like Brecht’s The Threepenny Opera to the Afghan war rugs where close examination reveals the traditional designs replaced by helicopters and rocket launchers.  Art can transport subversive material under the radar in repressive regimes or give a nudge to democracies to be more inclusive. 

 

We can think of many stirring examples around the world  but, this being Black History Month  what springs to my mind is the home grown exhibit Africville…a spirit that lives on, conceived in 1989 by Mary Sparling, Director of the Art Gallery at Mount St Vincent University in Halifax. in collaboration with a small group of Nova Scotia cultural activists..
This show served as a wake-up call about racial intolerance, thoughtless urban renewal and the value of community culture.




Africville was a Black settlement that survived for 130 years on the northwest shoulder of Bedford Basin.  Although oral histories describing their roots in American slavery suggest that some families arrived there as early as the 1700's, formal written history begins in 1848. A church was established in 1849, a school in 1883 and people gathered for the affordable land and proximity to jobs. At  the turn of the century, there was a population of around 400 souls and Africville was described as "a vibrant place inhabited by young, hard working people with great potential". During its heyday between 1900 and 1920 Louis Armstrong, Joe Lewis and Duke Ellington all visited this national and international legend.
                                                                                                                 

                                                                                                            
Over the years as Halifax grew and the land occupied by Africville became more valuable, the City refused to supply utilities but instead moved a dump and incinerator close by and began to encroach more and more on the land with a railway and industrial activity.  The settlement began to deteriorate and in 1945, it was recommended that  "blighted housing and dilapidated structures in the Africville area" be removed.  The school closed in 1953 and despite intense community opposition, the site was demolished in the late 60's.  The last remaining resident Aaron "Pa" Carvery moved out on June 2, 1970. Meanwhile on the other side of the world, similar things were happening in Sophiaville and Meadowlands as South Africa was being torn apart by apartheid.

Although Africville was bulldozed out of physical existence, nothing could remove the memories from the minds of the people who grew up there.  Mary’s exhibit called attention, at both local and national levels, to the error of destroying a community without sensitivity to the people, their history and their culture.  The show toured Canada, spending two months in 1992 at the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Ottawa accompanied  by the film Africville Remembered directed by her collaborator Shelagh Mackenzie for the NFB.  In 2002, the federal government declared Africville a National Historic Site. .

In 2008 on the 25th anniversary of the decimation of the settlement, 1500 people from all parts of Canada, the US and beyond attended a reunion.
A Paramount chief  from Ghana addressed the gathering and  Joe Sealy (an Africville descendant) performed his Africville Suite at the Neptune Theatre.  In February 2010, Halifax mayor Peter Kelly formally apologized to  former residents. Since then the Halifax Regional Municipality has agreed to transfer land and funds to build a replica of the Seaview Baptist Church and an interpretive centre on the Africville site... the spirit lives on.   Things have changed in South Africa too.

Being part of  the Africville project was a highlight of Mary’s career at The Mount which stretched from 1973 – 1994.  She  left as her legacy a strong sense of the importance of recognizing and reflecting local  Nova Scotia culture, placing particular focus on the work and issues of aboriginal, black and women artists.
A while before she died last year we celebrated 40 years of close friendship...this is a tribute to her and her work and a reminder to cherish your friends.