ArtCrawl Harlem

Art­Crawl Harlem is a non-prof­it arts edu­ca­tion orga­ni­za­tion that sup­ports the cre­ation, pre­sen­ta­tion, and aware­ness of con­tem­po­rary art as it relates to the his­tor­i­cal lega­cy of Harlem. Art­Crawl Harlem pro­motes the expo­sure of pro­fes­sion­al and emerg­ing artists, Harlem art gal­leries and cul­tur­al insti­tu­tions. The aim is to ele­vate Harlem on the greater met­ro­pol­i­tan cul­tur­al map, while pro­vid­ing both edu­ca­tion and qual­i­ty expe­ri­ences to vis­i­tors, tourists and mem­bers of the community.

This year’s res­i­den­cy, Bound­aries & Con­nec­tions, will wel­come artists work­ing across a wide range of prac­tices and gen­res, reflect­ing the diver­si­ty of con­tem­po­rary cre­ative expres­sion. Their pro­gram­ming this year will include host cohorts par­tic­i­pat­ing in biweek­ly artist salons, week­end open stu­dios, third Sat­ur­days pro­grams, and will cul­mi­nate in a group exhi­bi­tion in November.

Cur­rent­ly On View

Water No Get Ene­my | July 11-August 2

Water No Get Ene­my is a group exhi­bi­tion curat­ed by Jomani Danielle, the first cura­tor select­ed to par­tic­i­pate in Art­Crawl Harlem’s Artist Res­i­den­cy, with spa­tial design by Starr Solié. Respond­ing to the res­i­den­cy’s prompt of Afro­fu­tur­ism and new world-build­ing, the exhi­bi­tion posi­tions water as both archive and con­duit — a force that car­ries ances­tral mem­o­ry, spir­i­tu­al knowl­edge, dis­place­ment, adap­ta­tion, and the endur­ing cul­tur­al prac­tices of the African Diaspora.

Inspired by the mythol­o­gy of Drex­ciya, African water cos­molo­gies car­ried across the Atlantic through the African Dias­po­ra, and Fela Kuti’s sem­i­nal anthem Water No Get Ene­my, the exhi­bi­tion reimag­ines the Atlantic Ocean not sole­ly as a site of rup­ture, but as a place of preser­va­tion, trans­for­ma­tion, and pos­si­bil­i­ty. Water becomes wit­ness to his­to­ries often left unwrit­ten while simul­ta­ne­ous­ly car­ry­ing the poten­tial to imag­ine entire­ly new futures.

In Water No Get Ene­my, the future is not imag­ined in spite of the past, but because of it. The exhi­bi­tion pro­pos­es that Black futu­ri­ty is car­ried for­ward by ances­tral mem­o­ry, spir­i­tu­al con­ti­nu­ity, and the cul­tur­al knowl­edge that has endured across gen­er­a­tions like water itself. Through this lens, Afro­fu­tur­ism becomes an act of remem­brance as much as spec­u­la­tion, ask­ing what new worlds become pos­si­ble when the wis­dom of our ances­tors is treat­ed as the foun­da­tion for imag­in­ing what comes next.

Water No Get Ene­my fea­tures works by Bar­ring­ton Bris­sett, Bran­don Thomas Brown, Dr. Lisa Brown, Zara Cimone, Geor­gi, Luca Goly, Sowan­deh Joshua, Afro­cen­tric Keyy, Julie Jean Marie,Rickey Math­ieu, Jef­frey Melo, Wat­son Mere, Jazmine Nieves, Aala Oni, Phoenix, Nader­son Saint Pierre, Zel­la Vanie, and Zamí. Through paint­ing, sculp­ture, pho­tog­ra­phy, instal­la­tion, tex­tiles, and mixed media, the artists approach water as both archive and por­tal — a force that remem­bers, trans­forms, and pro­pels new worlds into being. Togeth­er, their works trace the cur­rents of the African Dias­po­ra, hon­or­ing inher­it­ed knowl­edge while imag­in­ing lib­er­at­ed Black futures. In con­ver­sa­tion with one anoth­er, the exhi­bi­tion pro­pos­es water as both wit­ness and col­lab­o­ra­tor, car­ry­ing the spir­i­tu­al, cul­tur­al, and his­tor­i­cal knowl­edge that con­tin­ues to shape Black life across time and geography.

Sit­u­at­ed on Gov­er­nors Island, sur­round­ed by the same Atlantic waters that have car­ried cen­turies of migra­tion, trade, and mem­o­ry, the exhi­bi­tion invites view­ers to con­sid­er the island itself as an exten­sion of its cura­to­r­i­al inquiry. Once a site of mil­i­tary occu­pa­tion and now a place of artis­tic exper­i­men­ta­tion, Gov­er­nors Island becomes a fit­ting land­scape through which to reflect on move­ment, sur­vival, trans­for­ma­tion, and Black futurity. 

Rather than posi­tion­ing water sole­ly as a site of loss, Water No Get Ene­my under­stands it as a source of con­ti­nu­ity. It is a keep­er of mem­o­ry, a ves­sel of spir­i­tu­al inher­i­tance, and a force through which his­to­ries are pre­served and futures imagined.

Water No Get Ene­my ulti­mate­ly pro­pos­es that lib­er­a­tion, like water, is nev­er still. It remem­bers, adapts, and finds new path­ways forward.