http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU0908/S00010.htm
Press Release: University of Auckland
3 August 2009
The former Minister of Culture for the Black Panther Party will
deliver a series of public lectures and mount a solo exhibition when
he visits New Zealand this month as the Elam International Artist in
Residence at The University of Auckland.
Emory Douglas created the striking graphic images that came to
represent the Black Panther Party in the 1960s, 70s and early 80s.
The group was founded in 1966 in Oakland, California, and was one of
the first organisations in US history to militantly struggle for
ethnic minority and working class emancipation.
Symbolising the civil unrest of the times, Emory Douglas' images were
used to illustrate the Black Panther, the party's weekly newspaper.
Over the years, the Black Panther's "Revolutionary Artist" made
countless artworks, illustrations, and cartoons, which were
reproduced in the paper and distributed as prints, posters, cards and
sculptures.
Thanks in large part to Emory Douglas' powerful visuals the Black
Panther Party delivered a forceful message to a community ravaged by
poverty, police brutality, and poor living conditions. The
organisation was discontinued in the early 1980s.
Emory Douglas is today recognised as an artist in his own right, and
his works have been mounted in solo exhibitions around the world and
included in the 2008 Sydney Biennale. Currently, he has a major
retrospective exhibit on display at the New Museum of Contemporary
Art in New York City.
While in Auckland, Emory Douglas will deliver a public lecture,
"Emory Douglas and the Art of Revolution", about the graphic art he
created while Minister of Culture for the Black Panthers. He will
also give lectures in New Plymouth, Dunedin and Wellington, where he
is being hosted as part of his visit to New Zealand.
He is also the subject of a solo exhibition, "Emory Douglas, Minister
of Culture, Black Panther Party". The show, on display at the Gus
Fisher Gallery, will include newspapers, posters, memorabilia and a
busy schedule of public programmes.
And he will lead workshops for Elam students interested in public
and/or political artistic practice. The students will be joined by
other young people whose families were associated with New Zealand's
1971 local branch of the Black Panthers the Polynesian Panthers.
Emory will also accept a number of community and iwi-based
invitations. He will travel to the Ureweras, Taranaki and parts of
wider Auckland. As part of their welcome to Emory Douglas, the
Polynesian Panthers will host a public concert in his honour. The
event will comprise talks, music and other activities.
"What makes this artist residency so significant is the historical
ties between the New Zealand Polynesian Panther Party and the
American Black Panther Party. Their battles for civil and human
rights reflect the fight that M ori today continue their struggle to
achieve," says Emory Douglas, who is making his first visit to New Zea and.
"Emory Douglas is a highly respected artist whose work reflects the
power, politics and passion of the causes in which he believes. More
than just a glimpse at past political conflicts, Emory Douglas' art
is compelling precisely because of its relevance today. We are
delighted to host such a prestigious figure of yesterday's radic l
politics and today™s art world, says Professor Jonathan Mane-Wheoki,
Head of Elam School of Fine Arts.
"Emory Douglas and the Art of Revolution" will be delivered at 6.30pm
on Monday 24 August in room 1.439, "Glass Box", Engineering Building,
(20 Symonds Street). The lecture and Power Point presentation is free
and open to the public.
"Emory Douglas, Minister of Culture, Black Panther Party" will be
mounted at the Gus Fisher Gallery (74 Shortland Street) from 21
August 3 October. For details visit www.gusfishergallery.auckland.ac.nz
The Elam International Artist in Residence programme was established
in 1999 and is made possible by the generous sponsorship of arts
patron Dame Jenny Gibbs.
The University of Auckland's National Institute of Creative Arts and
Industries comprises the School of Architecture and Planning, Elam
School of Fine Arts, the Centre for New Zealand Art Research and
Discovery (CNZARD), the School of Music and the Dance Studies Programme.
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