A screening of Some Bright Morning: The Art of Melvin Edwards (2015) followed by a discussion with director Lydie Diakhaté.

All welcome.

About Some Bright Morning: The Art of Melvin Edwards

Born during segregation in Houston, Texas in the late 30’s, the sculptor and worldwide recognized African-American artist Melvin Edwards has a story that must be told. As a black internationalist, pan-Africanist, and one of the major Modernist innovators in the New York art scene from the days of Abstract Expressionism up until the current Conceptual wave, Melvin Edwards is one of the few Afro-Americans who has a particularly strong connection with Africa beyond his own African origins.

Made out of a large array of archival materials, Some Bright Morning follows the artist from his New York gallery to both Ghana and Senegal, and places Edwards’ life and work in an international context. In extensive interviews, the artist discusses the cultural and political values that have enabled him to establish his own artistic language over the past five decades.

About the Director, Lydie Diakhaté 

Lydie Diakhaté is a film producer, art critic and curator for exhibitions and art programs. Her work focuses on producing and disseminating African and African diaspora films and other arts. In 2015 she published Melvin Edwards and the Poetic of a Blacksmith, Wasafiri Magazine, Routledge. Her recent documentary films include Negritude: A Dialogue between Wole Soyinka and Senghor (2015) and Edouard Glissant: One World in Relation (2010). She has curated exhibitions such as Amanié, What’s New?, a series of film and photo material shot thirty-five years ago in the village of Aby on a lagoon in Ivory Coast, West Africa shown at the NYU Kimmel Center Windows (2017); and L’Allée de la Reine, an installation of a series of monumental sculptures in wood by Diagne Chanel at the Dak’Art Biennale (2016). She is the co-founder and director of the Real Life Documentary Festival in Accra (2006-2012) and has organized conferences and events such as Black Portraiture: The Black Body in the West in Paris (2013); Perspectives on Algerian Cinema at the Smithsonian (2011); the film and workshop program of the iREPRESENT International Film Festival in Lagos/Nigeria (2011). Diakhaté received a diploma from the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, Paris and an MA in Museum Studies from The Graduate School of Arts and Science at New York University.