Using the Bard’s own words, a new exhibit presented by the Folger Shakespeare Library, highlights the rich history of Black women and the works of William Shakespeare. “To Hear Her Speak: Black Women and Shakespeare,” running from Oct. 16-May 2, is the first exhibition documenting Black women’s engagement with the playwright’s oeuvre.
Borrowing its title from Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 130,” the exhibition will display objects from early modern London to the present day, documenting the relationship between Black women and the 16th- and 17th-century playwright, and allowing visitors to listen and learn from the voices of 400 years of Black women.
“In our present moment, just as in the past, Black women are deeply imbricated within Shakespeare as literature,” Dr. Patricia Akhimie, director of the Folger Institute and exhibition curator, wrote in the exhibition catalog. “We ask, and we hope you will answer, how will you bring the lives and experiences of Black women to bear on the work of Shakespeare-making?”
Scholarship on Shakespeare has found that Black women are present in his works. The exhibition catalog states that in “Sonnets 127” and “130,” he both praises and admonishes the appearance of women with dark skin. Despite these mentions, they are largely absent from his writing as full-fledged characters, and Akhimie writes that the language he used helped create racial stereotypes of Black women that prevail today.
“We had established that Shakespeare mostly omitted Black women from his work, not as a reflection of the demographics of early modern London or the visual culture of the time, but as an authorial choice,” wrote Verónica E. Betancourt in the exhibition catalog.
Despite their omission, Black women over four centuries have utilized the works of Shakespeare to their advantage, particularly in speaking his words from the stage to prove their intelligence and thus humanity.
In addition to historical objects, the exhibition will also feature objects relating to the works of contemporary figures who have engaged with Shakespeare’s works, including Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison and Kennedi Carter.
The District also serves as an important backdrop for the exhibition.
“In this place, a city steeped in the history of Black women’s literary and theatrical engagements with Shakespeare,” Akhime wrote, “we are well equipped to tell the incredible story of Black women’s engagement with Shakespeare (and Shakespeare’s engagement with Black women) in ways that we believe will enliven and inspire.”
For more information about the exhibition, go to folger.edu.
