Amber Bishop: A Portal Somewhere Good: Who's All Over There?
Category: Event Calendar
Date and Time
- Wed, Jul 30, 2025 - Sat, Aug 23, 2025
Location
Akron Soul Train
191 S Main St
Details
Amber Bishop constructs a memory garden in A Portal Somewhere Good: Who’s All Over There?, an earthy immersive and multi-sensory installation. A gate to the past and present, the memory garden is a meditative resting place to consider one’s relationship to nature and commune with generations gone before. Incorporating elements of Black spiritual archiving, Bishop creates portraits of subjects that include representations of their ancestors—who may not have tangible photos of themselves—by using plants or other found objects to symbolize them. Audio elements, such as oral histories or ambient nature sounds, accompany video art to create a soothing environment.
An archivist of the mythic stories known as Black American life, or, the Black Fantastical, Amber Bishop’s A Portal Somewhere Good: Who’s All Over There? is deeply rooted in the concept of archival repair and stabilization. Bishop seeks to capture memories scarcely shared and to transfer them into new formats so that they can exist in public memory. Visitors will have the opportunity to contribute their stories to the collective memory to be preserved and added to Black ecology archives.
“Across the nation and in everyday life, Black people tap into the inherent magic that is deeply seated in our culture, and we alchemize systemic oppression into thriving communities, loving families, and joyful moments. In my archival artistry, I am preserving and translating the everyday magic of the Black fantasy, starting with my own life, family, and neighborhood. I tell the stories of who we have been and capture the stories of who we are now so that we can tell new stories of who we can become. I am ultimately striving to reconstruct the narrative of the Black experience so that the magic of Black creation is the main window through which the world sees into Black life.”
–Amber Bishop
Akron Soul Train is open Wednesday - Saturday, 11 am - 4 pm.
