Kara Walker’s work offers a candid examination of power through an exploration of racial myths and stereotypes, articulating the suffering from within American history that continues to reverberate today. This online presentation of the Berlin exhibition features enhanced content not included in the gallery.

Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Kara Walker
THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION, 2013
Cut paper and adhesive on wall
Installation variable, approximately 470 × 2000 cm
Installation variable, approximately 185 1/8 × 787 3/8 inches

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Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Kara Walker
THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION, 2013
Cut paper and adhesive on wall
Installation variable, approximately 470 × 2000 cm
Installation variable, approximately 185 1/8 × 787 3/8 inches

Kara Walker
THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION, 2013
Cut paper and adhesive on wall
Installation variable, approximately 470 × 2000 cm
Installation variable, approximately 185 1/8 × 787 3/8 inches

Details
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Inspired by Walker’s research into contemporary white supremacist movements and gun culture, the monumental wall work THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION (2013) depicts an imaginary battle re-enactment scene from Civil War anniversary celebrations that took place in America in 2011. Inspired by the prevalent culture in some Southern states that actively forges the myth of the “Lost Cause of the Confederacy” (a pseudo-historical ideology advocating the idea that the Confederates’ cause was not only justified but also heroic), and the associated mindset of white supremacy, this cut-paper silhouette wall work, at approximately twenty meters in length and five in height, overwhelms the viewer.

 

Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Kara Walker
THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION, 2013 (detail)

Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Kara Walker
THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION, 2013 (detail)

Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Kara Walker
THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION, 2013 (detail)

Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Kara Walker
THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION, 2013 (detail)

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Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Kara Walker
THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION, 2013 (detail)

Kara Walker
THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION, 2013 (detail)

Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Kara Walker
THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION, 2013 (detail)

Kara Walker
THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION, 2013 (detail)

Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Kara Walker
THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION, 2013 (detail)

Kara Walker
THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION, 2013 (detail)

Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Kara Walker
THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION, 2013 (detail)

Kara Walker
THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION, 2013 (detail)

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Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Auguste Edouart
A Treatise on Silhouette Likenesses, 1835
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Featuring silhouettes rendered in white against a deep grey background, Walker’s frieze adopts a tympanum-style triangular format—bringing to mind both classical friezes, and the murals of Harlem Renaissance artist Aaron Douglas. The depicted silhouettes, however, are crude and distinctly un-classical in style. While artists have used the elegance of silhouetted imagery to depict white figures, for example in the celebrated work of nineteenth-century silhouette artist Auguste Edouart, it has equally been exploited for degradation and humor with regard to the depiction of black (or indeed, any non-white) people. Walker uses historically inspired yet rudimentary iconography to demonstrate the prevalence of persistent racial tension in the United States.

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Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Auguste Edouart
A Treatise on Silhouette Likenesses, 1835
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

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Featuring silhouettes rendered in white against a deep grey background, Walker’s frieze adopts a tympanum-style triangular format—bringing to mind both classical friezes, and the murals of Harlem Renaissance artist Aaron Douglas. The depicted silhouettes, however, are crude and distinctly un-classical in style. While artists have used the elegance of silhouetted imagery to depict white figures, for example in the celebrated work of nineteenth-century silhouette artist Auguste Edouart, it has equally been exploited for degradation and humor with regard to the depiction of black (or indeed, any non-white) people. Walker uses historically inspired yet rudimentary iconography to demonstrate the prevalence of persistent racial tension in the United States.

Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Aaron Douglas
Aspects of Negro Life: From Slavery Through Reconstruction, 1934
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The New York Public Library, New York

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Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Aaron Douglas
Aspects of Negro Life: From Slavery Through Reconstruction, 1934
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The New York Public Library, New York

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Presenting a panoramic vista of clichés of America’s Deep South, THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION (2013) was first presented at Camden Arts Centre in 2013. The exhibition—We at the Camden Arts Centre are Exceedingly Proud to present an Exhibition of Capable Artworks by the Notable Hand of the Celebrated American, Kara Elizabeth Walker, Negress—was the artist’s first solo exhibition in London.

 

 

Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Kara Walker
We at the Camden Arts Centre are Exceedingly Proud to present an Exhibition of Capable Artworks by the Notable Hand of the Celebrated American, Kara Elizabeth Walker, Negress, installation view, Camden Arts Centre, London, 2013–14
Photo: Angus Mill Photography

Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Kara Walker
We at the Camden Arts Centre are Exceedingly Proud to present an Exhibition of Capable Artworks by the Notable Hand of the Celebrated American, Kara Elizabeth Walker, Negress, installation view, Camden Arts Centre, London, 2013–14
Photo: Angus Mill Photography

Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Kara Walker
We at the Camden Arts Centre are Exceedingly Proud to present an Exhibition of Capable Artworks by the Notable Hand of the Celebrated American, Kara Elizabeth Walker, Negress, installation view, Camden Arts Centre, London, 2013–14
Photo: Angus Mill Photography

Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Kara Walker
We at the Camden Arts Centre are Exceedingly Proud to present an Exhibition of Capable Artworks by the Notable Hand of the Celebrated American, Kara Elizabeth Walker, Negress, installation view, Camden Arts Centre, London, 2013–14
Photo: Angus Mill Photography

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Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Kara Walker
We at the Camden Arts Centre are Exceedingly Proud to present an Exhibition of Capable Artworks by the Notable Hand of the Celebrated American, Kara Elizabeth Walker, Negress, installation view, Camden Arts Centre, London, 2013–14
Photo: Angus Mill Photography

Kara Walker
We at the Camden Arts Centre are Exceedingly Proud to present an Exhibition of Capable Artworks by the Notable Hand of the Celebrated American, Kara Elizabeth Walker, Negress, installation view, Camden Arts Centre, London, 2013–14
Photo: Angus Mill Photography

Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Kara Walker
We at the Camden Arts Centre are Exceedingly Proud to present an Exhibition of Capable Artworks by the Notable Hand of the Celebrated American, Kara Elizabeth Walker, Negress, installation view, Camden Arts Centre, London, 2013–14
Photo: Angus Mill Photography

Kara Walker
We at the Camden Arts Centre are Exceedingly Proud to present an Exhibition of Capable Artworks by the Notable Hand of the Celebrated American, Kara Elizabeth Walker, Negress, installation view, Camden Arts Centre, London, 2013–14
Photo: Angus Mill Photography

Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Kara Walker
We at the Camden Arts Centre are Exceedingly Proud to present an Exhibition of Capable Artworks by the Notable Hand of the Celebrated American, Kara Elizabeth Walker, Negress, installation view, Camden Arts Centre, London, 2013–14
Photo: Angus Mill Photography

Kara Walker
We at the Camden Arts Centre are Exceedingly Proud to present an Exhibition of Capable Artworks by the Notable Hand of the Celebrated American, Kara Elizabeth Walker, Negress, installation view, Camden Arts Centre, London, 2013–14
Photo: Angus Mill Photography

Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Kara Walker
We at the Camden Arts Centre are Exceedingly Proud to present an Exhibition of Capable Artworks by the Notable Hand of the Celebrated American, Kara Elizabeth Walker, Negress, installation view, Camden Arts Centre, London, 2013–14
Photo: Angus Mill Photography

Kara Walker
We at the Camden Arts Centre are Exceedingly Proud to present an Exhibition of Capable Artworks by the Notable Hand of the Celebrated American, Kara Elizabeth Walker, Negress, installation view, Camden Arts Centre, London, 2013–14
Photo: Angus Mill Photography

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The monumental wall work exposes the darker sides of human behavior, by moving from celebration into Civil War-style racial violence. An acerbic nod to the nostalgia still felt by some for the antebellum, colonialist days, it is exemplary of the artist’s candidly dark comedy. Kara Walker’s immense wall works are included in a number of institutional collections.

 

Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Kara Walker
Gone: An Historical Romance of a Civil War as it Occurred b'tween the Dusky Thighs of One Young Negress and Her Heart, 1994
Selections 1994, installation view, The Drawing Center, New York, NY, 1994
Photo: Orcutt Photo
The Museum of Modern Art, New York

Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Kara Walker
No mere words can Adequately reflect the Remorse this Negress feels at having been Cast into such a lowly state by her former Masters and so it is with a Humble heart that she brings about their physical Ruin and earthly Demise, installation view, California College of Arts and Crafts (CCAC), Oakland, 1999
Photo: Ian Reeves
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art 

Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Kara Walker
Grub for Sharks, A Concession to the Negro Populace, 2004
The First Cut, installation view, Manchester Art Gallery, Manchester, 2012
Photo: Manchester Art Gallery
Tate London

Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Kara Walker
The Jubilant Martyrs of Obsolescence and Ruin, 2015
Kara Walker: Go to Hell or Atlanta, Whichever Comes First, installation view, Victoria Miro, London, 2015
Photo: Robert Glowacki
High Museum of Art, Atlanta

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Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Kara Walker
Gone: An Historical Romance of a Civil War as it Occurred b'tween the Dusky Thighs of One Young Negress and Her Heart, 1994
Selections 1994, installation view, The Drawing Center, New York, NY, 1994
Photo: Orcutt Photo
The Museum of Modern Art, New York

Kara Walker
Gone: An Historical Romance of a Civil War as it Occurred b'tween the Dusky Thighs of One Young Negress and Her Heart, 1994
Selections 1994, installation view, The Drawing Center, New York, NY, 1994
Photo: Orcutt Photo
The Museum of Modern Art, New York

Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Kara Walker
No mere words can Adequately reflect the Remorse this Negress feels at having been Cast into such a lowly state by her former Masters and so it is with a Humble heart that she brings about their physical Ruin and earthly Demise, installation view, California College of Arts and Crafts (CCAC), Oakland, 1999
Photo: Ian Reeves
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art 

Kara Walker
No mere words can Adequately reflect the Remorse this Negress feels at having been Cast into such a lowly state by her former Masters and so it is with a Humble heart that she brings about their physical Ruin and earthly Demise, installation view, California College of Arts and Crafts (CCAC), Oakland, 1999
Photo: Ian Reeves
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art 

Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Kara Walker
Grub for Sharks, A Concession to the Negro Populace, 2004
The First Cut, installation view, Manchester Art Gallery, Manchester, 2012
Photo: Manchester Art Gallery
Tate London

Kara Walker
Grub for Sharks, A Concession to the Negro Populace, 2004
The First Cut, installation view, Manchester Art Gallery, Manchester, 2012
Photo: Manchester Art Gallery
Tate London

Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Kara Walker
The Jubilant Martyrs of Obsolescence and Ruin, 2015
Kara Walker: Go to Hell or Atlanta, Whichever Comes First, installation view, Victoria Miro, London, 2015
Photo: Robert Glowacki
High Museum of Art, Atlanta

Kara Walker
The Jubilant Martyrs of Obsolescence and Ruin, 2015
Kara Walker: Go to Hell or Atlanta, Whichever Comes First, installation view, Victoria Miro, London, 2015
Photo: Robert Glowacki
High Museum of Art, Atlanta

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As Walker’s signature work with cut-paper silhouettes developed, film also came to play a central role in her artistic practice. Similarly to how black bodies have been manipulated throughout history, Walker’s films address the manipulation of the object, using cut-paper puppets whose movements are controlled by the artist.

 

Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Kara Walker
National Archives Microfilm M999 Roll 34: Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands: Six Miles from Springfield on the Franklin Road, 2009
Color video, audio, DVD and digital beta master
13:22 min
Edition of 5 + 2 APs

Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Kara Walker
National Archives Microfilm M999 Roll 34: Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands: Six Miles from Springfield on the Franklin Road, 2009
Color video, audio, DVD and digital beta master
13:22 min
Edition of 5 + 2 APs

Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Kara Walker
National Archives Microfilm M999 Roll 34: Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands: Six Miles from Springfield on the Franklin Road, 2009
Color video, audio, DVD and digital beta master
13:22 min
Edition of 5 + 2 APs

Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Kara Walker
National Archives Microfilm M999 Roll 34: Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands: Six Miles from Springfield on the Franklin Road, 2009
Color video, audio, DVD and digital beta master
13:22 min
Edition of 5 + 2 APs

image/svg+xml
Details
Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Kara Walker
National Archives Microfilm M999 Roll 34: Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands: Six Miles from Springfield on the Franklin Road, 2009
Color video, audio, DVD and digital beta master
13:22 min
Edition of 5 + 2 APs

Kara Walker
National Archives Microfilm M999 Roll 34: Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands: Six Miles from Springfield on the Franklin Road, 2009
Color video, audio, DVD and digital beta master
13:22 min
Edition of 5 + 2 APs

Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Kara Walker
National Archives Microfilm M999 Roll 34: Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands: Six Miles from Springfield on the Franklin Road, 2009
Color video, audio, DVD and digital beta master
13:22 min
Edition of 5 + 2 APs

Kara Walker
National Archives Microfilm M999 Roll 34: Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands: Six Miles from Springfield on the Franklin Road, 2009
Color video, audio, DVD and digital beta master
13:22 min
Edition of 5 + 2 APs

Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Kara Walker
National Archives Microfilm M999 Roll 34: Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands: Six Miles from Springfield on the Franklin Road, 2009
Color video, audio, DVD and digital beta master
13:22 min
Edition of 5 + 2 APs

Kara Walker
National Archives Microfilm M999 Roll 34: Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands: Six Miles from Springfield on the Franklin Road, 2009
Color video, audio, DVD and digital beta master
13:22 min
Edition of 5 + 2 APs

Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Kara Walker
National Archives Microfilm M999 Roll 34: Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands: Six Miles from Springfield on the Franklin Road, 2009
Color video, audio, DVD and digital beta master
13:22 min
Edition of 5 + 2 APs

Kara Walker
National Archives Microfilm M999 Roll 34: Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands: Six Miles from Springfield on the Franklin Road, 2009
Color video, audio, DVD and digital beta master
13:22 min
Edition of 5 + 2 APs

Details
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The two National Archives Microfilms from 2009 emerged from the artists research into the U.S. National Archives Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands. The Bureau was established in 1865 to aid former slaves in the transition to freedom following the American Civil War. The short-lived Bureau kept precise and descriptive records of the senseless violence inflicted on former slaves during the Reconstruction period. Walker’s films reimagine two of the incidents recorded in the Bureau’s transcripts. For both films, the artist worked with musicians Jason and Alicia Moran to create the soundtracks.

 

Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Kara Walker
National Archives Microfilm M999 Roll 34: Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands: Six Miles from Springfield on the Franklin Road, 2009 (film still)

Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Kara Walker
National Archives Microfilm M999 Roll 34: Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands: Six Miles from Springfield on the Franklin Road, 2009 (film still)

Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Kara Walker
National Archives Microfilm M999 Roll 34: Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands: Six Miles from Springfield on the Franklin Road, 2009 (film still)

Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Kara Walker
National Archives Microfilm M999 Roll 34: Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands: Six Miles from Springfield on the Franklin Road, 2009 (film still)

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Details
Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Kara Walker
National Archives Microfilm M999 Roll 34: Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands: Six Miles from Springfield on the Franklin Road, 2009 (film still)

Kara Walker
National Archives Microfilm M999 Roll 34: Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands: Six Miles from Springfield on the Franklin Road, 2009 (film still)

Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Kara Walker
National Archives Microfilm M999 Roll 34: Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands: Six Miles from Springfield on the Franklin Road, 2009 (film still)

Kara Walker
National Archives Microfilm M999 Roll 34: Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands: Six Miles from Springfield on the Franklin Road, 2009 (film still)

Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Kara Walker
National Archives Microfilm M999 Roll 34: Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands: Six Miles from Springfield on the Franklin Road, 2009 (film still)

Kara Walker
National Archives Microfilm M999 Roll 34: Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands: Six Miles from Springfield on the Franklin Road, 2009 (film still)

Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Kara Walker
National Archives Microfilm M999 Roll 34: Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands: Six Miles from Springfield on the Franklin Road, 2009 (film still)

Kara Walker
National Archives Microfilm M999 Roll 34: Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands: Six Miles from Springfield on the Franklin Road, 2009 (film still)

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National Archives Microfilm M999 Roll 34: Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands: Six Miles from Springfield on the Franklin Road (2009) is based on interviews with a family who were not only attacked but were also victims of arson. Set in Springfield, a small town just north of Nashville, Tennessee, a seemingly tranquil and idyllic scene of an African-American family quickly descends into a nightmarish vision of murder, rape and arson.

 

Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Kara Walker
National Archives Microfilm M999 Roll 34: Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands: Lucy of Pulaski, 2009 (film still)

Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Kara Walker
National Archives Microfilm M999 Roll 34: Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands: Lucy of Pulaski, 2009 (film still)

Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Kara Walker
National Archives Microfilm M999 Roll 34: Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands: Lucy of Pulaski, 2009 (film still)

Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Kara Walker
National Archives Microfilm M999 Roll 34: Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands: Lucy of Pulaski, 2009 (film still)

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Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Kara Walker
National Archives Microfilm M999 Roll 34: Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands: Lucy of Pulaski, 2009 (film still)

Kara Walker
National Archives Microfilm M999 Roll 34: Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands: Lucy of Pulaski, 2009 (film still)

Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Kara Walker
National Archives Microfilm M999 Roll 34: Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands: Lucy of Pulaski, 2009 (film still)

Kara Walker
National Archives Microfilm M999 Roll 34: Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands: Lucy of Pulaski, 2009 (film still)

Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Kara Walker
National Archives Microfilm M999 Roll 34: Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands: Lucy of Pulaski, 2009 (film still)

Kara Walker
National Archives Microfilm M999 Roll 34: Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands: Lucy of Pulaski, 2009 (film still)

Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Kara Walker
National Archives Microfilm M999 Roll 34: Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands: Lucy of Pulaski, 2009 (film still)

Kara Walker
National Archives Microfilm M999 Roll 34: Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands: Lucy of Pulaski, 2009 (film still)

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National Archives Microfilm M999 Roll 34: Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands: Lucy of Pulaski (2009) is based on a race riot that occurred in Pulaski, Tennessee in 1868. The transcript from this event is a fairly elaborate text, offering a thorough report of the events that led up to the riot. Through the film, Walker was seeking to find the voice of the narrator, who described a female figure whose supposedly loose morals instigated the riots. Yet further investigation raised questions about whether this figure was even involved in the riots.

Artifacts such as shot lists, handwritten notes, cut-and-pasted lines of text, sketches and cut-paper puppets shed light on Walker’s process as she conceives of and composes her films.

 

Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Kara Walker
Materials related to National Archives Microfilm M999 Roll 34: Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands: Six Miles from Springfield on the Franklin Road, 2009
21.7 × 34.8 cm (framed)
8 1/2 × 13 3/4 inches (framed)

Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Kara Walker
Materials related to National Archives Microfilm M999 Roll 34: Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands: Six Miles from Springfield on the Franklin Road, 2009
21.3 × 21.3 cm (framed)
8 3/8 × 8 3/8 inches (framed)

Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Kara Walker
Materials related to National Archives Microfilm M999 Roll 34: Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands: Lucy of Pulaski, 2009
43.4 × 91.2 cm (framed)
17 × 36 inches (framed)

Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Kara Walker
Materials related to National Archives Microfilm M999 Roll 34: Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands: Lucy of Pulaski, 2009
34.4 × 28 cm (framed)
13 1/2 × 11 inches (framed)

image/svg+xml
Details
Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Kara Walker
Materials related to National Archives Microfilm M999 Roll 34: Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands: Six Miles from Springfield on the Franklin Road, 2009
21.7 × 34.8 cm (framed)
8 1/2 × 13 3/4 inches (framed)

Kara Walker
Materials related to National Archives Microfilm M999 Roll 34: Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands: Six Miles from Springfield on the Franklin Road, 2009
21.7 × 34.8 cm (framed)
8 1/2 × 13 3/4 inches (framed)

Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Kara Walker
Materials related to National Archives Microfilm M999 Roll 34: Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands: Six Miles from Springfield on the Franklin Road, 2009
21.3 × 21.3 cm (framed)
8 3/8 × 8 3/8 inches (framed)

Kara Walker
Materials related to National Archives Microfilm M999 Roll 34: Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands: Six Miles from Springfield on the Franklin Road, 2009
21.3 × 21.3 cm (framed)
8 3/8 × 8 3/8 inches (framed)

Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Kara Walker
Materials related to National Archives Microfilm M999 Roll 34: Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands: Lucy of Pulaski, 2009
43.4 × 91.2 cm (framed)
17 × 36 inches (framed)

Kara Walker
Materials related to National Archives Microfilm M999 Roll 34: Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands: Lucy of Pulaski, 2009
43.4 × 91.2 cm (framed)
17 × 36 inches (framed)

Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Kara Walker
Materials related to National Archives Microfilm M999 Roll 34: Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands: Lucy of Pulaski, 2009
34.4 × 28 cm (framed)
13 1/2 × 11 inches (framed)

Kara Walker
Materials related to National Archives Microfilm M999 Roll 34: Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands: Lucy of Pulaski, 2009
34.4 × 28 cm (framed)
13 1/2 × 11 inches (framed)

Details
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Kara Walker’s use of silhouette animation and shadow puppetry developed from an interest in the rich cultural history of the form, including the work of Lotte Reiniger, whose animated silhouette films—such as Cinderella (1922) and The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926)—preceded those of Walt Disney.

 

 

From Walker’s debut films in black and white—Testimony: Narrative of a Negress Burdened by Good Intentions (2004) and 8 Possible Beginnings or: The Creation of African-America, a Moving Picture by Kara E. Walker (2005)—to her incorporation of color in later films such as her two National Archives Microfilms, the viewer always detects the presence of an unseen force controlling the action, imbuing her work with poignancy and menace. 

 

Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Kara Walker
Testimony: Narrative of a Negress Burdened by Good Intentions, 2004 (film still)
B/W video, no audio
08:49 min
Edition of 5 + 2 APs

Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Kara Walker
8 Possible Beginnings or: The Creation of African-America, a Moving Picture by Kara E. Walker, 2005 (film still)
B/W video, audio
15:57 min
Edition of 5 + 2 APs

Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Kara Walker
…calling to me from the angry surface of some grey and threatening sea., 2007 (film still)
Color video, no audio
9:10 min
Edition of 5 + 2 APs

Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Kara Walker
Fall Frum Grace, Miss Pipi's Blue Tale, 2011 (film still)
Color video, audio
17:00 min
Edition of 5 + 2 APs

image/svg+xml
Details
Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Kara Walker
Testimony: Narrative of a Negress Burdened by Good Intentions, 2004 (film still)
B/W video, no audio
08:49 min
Edition of 5 + 2 APs

Kara Walker
Testimony: Narrative of a Negress Burdened by Good Intentions, 2004 (film still)
B/W video, no audio
08:49 min
Edition of 5 + 2 APs

Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Kara Walker
8 Possible Beginnings or: The Creation of African-America, a Moving Picture by Kara E. Walker, 2005 (film still)
B/W video, audio
15:57 min
Edition of 5 + 2 APs

Kara Walker
8 Possible Beginnings or: The Creation of African-America, a Moving Picture by Kara E. Walker, 2005 (film still)
B/W video, audio
15:57 min
Edition of 5 + 2 APs

Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Kara Walker
…calling to me from the angry surface of some grey and threatening sea., 2007 (film still)
Color video, no audio
9:10 min
Edition of 5 + 2 APs

Kara Walker
…calling to me from the angry surface of some grey and threatening sea., 2007 (film still)
Color video, no audio
9:10 min
Edition of 5 + 2 APs

Kara Walker – THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS SESQUICENTENNIAL CIVIL WAR CELEBRATION – Berlin

Kara Walker
Fall Frum Grace, Miss Pipi's Blue Tale, 2011 (film still)
Color video, audio
17:00 min
Edition of 5 + 2 APs

Kara Walker
Fall Frum Grace, Miss Pipi's Blue Tale, 2011 (film still)
Color video, audio
17:00 min
Edition of 5 + 2 APs

Details
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1 of 4

 

All installation views: Timo Ohler