Alan Page's "Testify" exhibit returns to Minneapolis Central Library for Black History Month
MINNEAPOLIS – The newest display at Minneapolis Central Library aims to educate you, but also calls you to action.
Titled "Testify," the exhibit, on display now, features more than 100 pieces of Americana from eras of slavery and Jim Crow.
Each piece comes from the Diane and Alan Page collection.
"It originally came to be just looking at my parent's collection and deciding that it was time to bring this conversation out in the open," said Georgi Page-Smith, show serves as the collection's director.
"Testify" features artwork depicting the brutality and oppression of slavery and Jim Crow America, as well as artifacts from the White House, Abraham Lincoln's campaign and more.
"My stepmom started 30 years ago collecting things for us kids," Page-Smith said. "She had a visitor once who looked around, they had a lot of modern art on the walls. That person said, 'what about the stuff about your history, your kid's history?' My stepmom just took that seriously. She was a very passionate, driven person."
The exhibit has been on display just once before, in 2018.
"It is maybe the most popular exhibit we've held in Cargill Gallery at Minneapolis Central library, if not, in the top two or three," said Jesse Sawyer, who serves as the library's Community Engagement Coordinator.
"I think there's a sense right now where everyone kind of knows where we're at, what are some of the difficulties that we're facing, but it's hard to know what to do with that energy," Sawyer said.
The display opened Wednesday night with a community celebration. It will remain open for visitors during library hours until March 29. In addition, the display will host "Testify Tuesdays," Tuesdays from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. during the time the exhibit is on display.
These special events will discuss topics like voting rights, criminal justice, and education reform.
"I think there's a greater sense of urgency everywhere," Smith-Page said. "What happened here in Minneapolis spread throughout the world and just made the call to action for justice that much stronger."
