What a great time to be in Atlanta!
Our city is a living memorial to the nation’s past because it dramatically symbolizes what it means to be “Southern.” It embodies a staggering set of residual effects that tie directly to the slave economy on which the region and the nation were originally built. Simultaneously, Atlanta has become an epicenter for business, health, higher education, technological development, transportation, sports and entertainment. A quick glance at a world map tells the story.
Geopolitically, Atlanta is at a critical location within the trans-Atlantic triangle of Africa, Europe and the Americas. We have a chance to re-invent what it means to be Southern due to continuously evolving relationships within that space and the richness of the diasporic communities that call Atlanta home — to be a pace-setting 21st-century city and a trans-Atlantic beacon.
This context made possible Africa Atlanta 2014 (www.AfricaAtlanta.org).
With a serendipitous opportunity to bring to Atlanta some of the most remarkable African art in the world, the Georgia Tech Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts formed a collaboration with the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Tervuren, Belgium; the Harn Museum of Art at the University of Florida, and the Jimmy Carter Library and Museum to showcase “Kongo Across the Waters,” from May 17 to Sept. 21.
Africa Atlanta 2014, however, is more than just one exhibition. With a goal of collaboration and cooperation, the Ivan Allen College sought to bring a citywide response to the question: What would it mean to “feel the soul of Africa in the heart of Atlanta?”
More than 50 partners across the city and beyond have brought together a spectacular set of events under this theme. Events range across the arts, business and innovation, health, science, technology and education, connecting local issues and interests to larger global landscapes while underscoring Atlanta as the nexus for engagement, innovation and action.
Visitors will be able to experience such programs as the Art of Bernard Williams at the Booth Western Art Museum, African Mask/Masquerade at the High Museum, and the conference “Africa beyond Africa: The Future of Cultural, Social, and Scientific Research” at Georgia Tech.
Symbolized by the phoenix, Atlanta is rising once again, unafraid of challenge or change, and ready not only for the 21st century, but for global leadership.
Jacqueline J. Royster is dean of Georgia Tech’s Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.
