By Kiara Doyal, The Seattle Medium
“Rooted & Rising: Stories from the African American Archive,” a new exhibit at the Seattle Public Library’s Central Library Level 8 Gallery, is now open to the public. The exhibit, which runs from Aug. 11 to Oct. 5, invites visitors to explore the city’s rich Black history through art and storytelling and highlights one of the Library’s most distinctive collections — the African American Collection, which is located at the Douglass-Truth Branch. Built by Seattle’s Black community, the collection, which is maintained with ongoing donations from Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, saved the branch from closure in the 1960s.
“A lot of people in Seattle are unaware that this incredible collection lives in Seattle,” said Jenny Ku, the Library’s public engagement programs manager. “Highlighting the collection and showing the incredible resource and history we have is our goal. Also, just to have it in conversation with contemporary Black artists in Seattle is exciting.”
Curated by local interdisciplinary artist Imani Sims of Vivid Matter Collective, the exhibit pairs archival treasures with Afrofuturist art from five Seattle-based artists — Akoiya Harris, DJ Summersoft, Natasha Green, Quenton Baker, and Rae Akino. Their works include mixed media installations, printed digital artwork, reimagined archival texts, blackout poems, and nail art, each reflecting a unique perspective on Black life in the Pacific Northwest.
“I think these five artists really bring a very Black Seattle lens, and it was really important for me to find artists who have known Seattle over multiple years,” Sims said. “Some were born here, and others are transplants. But I really wanted that sort of cross-pollination of folks who have been here for a long time and folks who have called this their oasis and their home to really reflect on the history that’s in the archive. They’re all very different disciplines, so they’re going to bring their own vibe to the exhibit, which I think is really important as well.”
Sims describes “Rooted & Rising” as “a retrospective of the African American Archive that’s housed at Douglass-Truth Library in conversation with Afrofuturist Tarot through the lens of Seattle-based Black artists.”
“The exhibit will transform the gallery into a space of active participation, creative exploration, and community ritual. Seattle residents will have the opportunity to connect past to present, memory to imagination, and personal reflection to collective legacy,” Sims said.
Sims brings a personal and innovative perspective to the African American Collection, reintroducing the public to the depth and richness of Black history housed right here in Seattle.
Their past work includes “Kitchen Sessions” (2015–2019), developed with the Seattle Art Museum, Bellevue Arts Museum, and Central District Forum for Arts & Ideas, which centered intergenerational storytelling through performance by and for the Black community. They bring that same spirit to “Rooted & Rising,” aiming to amplify the archive through collaboration and create programming that “uplifts and activates this vital history.”
“I am the creator of the Afrofuturist tarot deck, so my lens is coming from a very Afrofuturist perspective. I want to dream us into the year 2355,” said Sims. “The way that I see us doing that is by giving folks inspiration and prompts to respond to in an effort to sort of keep this archive going by creating new work based on the inspiration that is in the exhibit.”
When creating the exhibit, Sims said it was quite exciting, as they describes themselves as a deep African American literature nerd.
“I spent some time in the archive, sort of reflecting on what it means to live in a city that has quite the largest archive of African American literature on the West Coast, and not even really know about it. I didn’t even know it was all there,” said Sims. “I really wanted to spark some interest in people to go dig around in those texts. And so, with my obsession with science fiction, I knew I wanted to sort of integrate the future into whatever exhibition was curated and created.”
Sims said there is plenty for visitors to view and take in at the exhibit.
“It is going to be a wild world in there. I have created this immersive experience, and what I am calling the living archive. There are prompts that are based on the tarot cards that are on the walls and QR codes that folks can scan and submit their work into the living archive, and then that will go up onto the blog,” said Sims. “And then, of course, all of the new work the five artists have created for this exhibition. Just a lot of things to look at.”
Above all, Sims hopes that the exhibit provides a sense of inspiration to the Black community.
“I think the big tagline for me is that you are the future. If we don’t create it, it doesn’t exist,” said Sims. “So, I hope that the community takes that away from this exhibition.”
Elisa Murray, the Seattle Public Library digital communications strategist, echoed the statement.
“We really try to amplify voices from historically excluded communities as well in support of our equity goals, so we hope visitors will learn about the richness of Seattle’s Black histories that are housed in that collection and are inspired by how these artists have responded to it to create new stories,” Murray said. “It is like intermixing in the present. The lens that Imani is bringing shows that it is a living collection, not a museum — a collection that is added to over time.”
