OlaRonke Akinmowo and The Free Black Women's Library
Artist in Residence, 2023–2025
OlaRonke Akinmowo is an interdisciplinary artist who works in collage, papermaking, printmaking, book arts, and stop-motion animation, and is also a set decorator and dresser for film and TV. She is the Creator and Director of The Free Black Women’s Library, a social art project in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, which features a collection of over five thousand books written by Black women and Black nonbinary folks. The library also offers a wide array of free public programs, a free store, period pantry, virtual reading club, and a weekly book swap. Her art praxis interrogates the constructs of beauty, safety, and sanity, while prioritizing creativity, connection, and care in her approach.
Akinmowo's CPP artist residency at The Met is inspired and guided by the sacred legacy of sisterhood among Black Feminist and Black Womanist writers. She has convened a cohort of twenty Black women and femme writers, entitled Obsidian, which meets bimonthly to write, discuss, cocreate, and publish work around survival, rage, and liberation, as well as to research and explore art, history, social theories, New York City, and various literary genres. In December 2024, Obsidian will publish a book of their collective work, Pretty Little Brick. As part of her residency, Akinmowo also offers the general public free workshops, discussions, and other special events related to the writing and art of Black women.
Photo by OlaRonke Akinmowo
Residency Activities
The Free Black Women’s Library
Part of what inspired the project was wanting to create something that really centered the brilliance and creativity of Black women writers and the transformative possibilities that come with reading.
— OlaRonke Akinmowo
The Free Black Women’s Library is a third-space social art project. Like any library, it is a space to read, write, and study. Visitors are also invited to attend workshops, film screenings, book signings, teach-ins, story time sessions, and critical conversations, and to use the space to gather in community.
Black Mecca Musings/Ekphrastic Notes on the Harlem Renaissance (Workshop), April 28, 2024
In celebration of Poetry Month, The Free Black Women’s Library hosted a poetry and prose workshop inspired by works of art featured in The Met’s exhibition, The Harlem Renaissance and Transatlantic Modernism.
MetFest, October 21, 2023
MetFest, The Met’s biannual fall block party, saw the installation of a pop-up Free Black Women’s Library inside the Museum, as well as a related writing workshop. The library featured over 200 books of various genres written by Black women and Black nonbinary folks. Visitors had the opportunity to explore the many publications available in the library, and learn about its free programs and events. Akinmowo engaged with Museum visitors around Black women’s literature, book bans, and reading, and discussed access, privilege, and libraries. Visitors participated in a writing workshop inspired by Speech Sounds, Octavia Butler’s first published short story.
Interests and Inspirations from The Met
Before Yesterday We Could Fly: An Afrofuturist Period Room
During her residency, Akinmowo found constant inspiration within Before Yesterday We Could Fly: An Afrofuturist Period Room at The Met as it offered multiple pathways toward understanding how time and history can be used as material for art making. Afrofuturism is a concept that allows Black artists the opportunity to build worlds, create counternarratives, and move seamlessly from the past into the future and then back to the present. From its haunting soundscape to its gorgeous wallpaper, log-style rooftop design, and ornate elements in each window, nook, and cranny, this space has a deeply engaging aesthetic that drips with culture and soul. Each vantage point tells a story that explores the depth of the Black experience, and the fact that this container is constantly changing allows it to also serve as a metaphor for our ability to grow and transform.
Thomas J. Watson Library
As a library founder and worker, Akinmowo found great value in the rare and diverse assortment of thousands of books and literary ephemera in the collection of The Met’s Thomas J. Watson Library during her residency. The library was an amazing resource staffed by extremely helpful and knowledgeable librarians.
Public Programs
- Pop-up Free Black Women’s Library at MetFest, October 21, 2023
- Black Mecca Musings/Ekphrastic Notes on the Harlem Renaissance (Workshop), April 28, 2024
Community Partners and Collaborators
The following partners, collaborators, and supporters engaged with Akinmowo’s work during her residency:
Malcolm X Grassroots Movement | New York Writers Coalition
The Civic Practice Project is made possible by The William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust.