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Bus Ride to Hilliard Museum in Lafayette Features an Immersive Experience with Storyteller, L. Kasimu Harris and his “Vanishing Black Bars and Lounges” Exhibition on July 16, 2022

“What happens to the culture when it’s displaced?”- L. Kasimu Harris, Storyteller

NEW ORLEANS – On Saturday, July 16, 2022,  Wilson Ave. will present a bus ride experience from New Orleans to view L. Kasimu Harris’ critically acclaimed exhibition, Vanishing Black Bars and Lounges at the Hilliard Art Museum located on the University of Louisiana at Lafayette’s campus. 

The outing will also include a welcome reception, lunch featuring Black local entertainment, and cocktails by Turning Tables. Just before high tea, there is a fireside chat with Harris, named the 2022 Documentary Photographer of the Year by Louisiana Endowment for Humanities, and Benjamin Hickey, Hilliard’s curator of exhibitions. 

Harris started his Vanishing Black Bars & Lounges series in 2018, after seeing a dramatic shift in ownership of the bars, when Black bars started turning white. The Black bar in New Orleans is the epicenter of black culture in New Orleans, which is the driving force of the city’s culture. Black bars and lounges are the homes to social aid & pleasure clubs, Black Masking Indians, and community. Historically, they were and remain a respite from the rest of the world and the unfair treatment folk faced in areas outside of their neighborhoods. 

The exhibition features 35 of Harris’ photographs, plus 10 more in an influences section that include Dawoud Bey, Carrie Mae Weems, and Birney Imes. As well as an interactive installation of a Black bar that also has a video by Harris.  

“We worked directly with Kasimu to create an enriching experience beyond the photography itself, including a learning lab called Honey Bear’s Hotspot Bar & Lounge that provides important historical and sociological context,” Hickey said. “I’m eager that a show like this can create positive and nuanced discussions about development’s impact in Louisiana and the net impact on marginalized communities.”

Harris will answer questions and promote continued dialogue throughout the bus ride experience. Both his writing and photographs have been featured in prominent art institutions and publications, including “A Shot Before Last Call: Capturing New Orleans’s Vanishing Black Bars” which was published in The New York Times and a solo exhibition at the August Wilson African American Cultural Center in Pittsburgh, Pa. 

“I am telling the story of “now,” Harris says, “But most importantly, my work is about making physical documents, for generations to come, that declare “we were here.”

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