Inventors, Makers and Movers 

30 September - 30 October  2005    at   ARTI  ET AMICITIAE
                                                             Rokin 112    Amsterdam

Inventors, Makers and Movers is an exhibition that presents a critical inquiry into 19th and 20th century African American inventors and the consequent developmental benefits of their contributions to society. 

The exhibition also explores these inventions as one of the cradles of African American culture that has been all but ignored within the discourse of black creative expression. 

Black music, literature and art evolved as intrinsic and viable forms of expression that reflected and interpreted American history through schools of thought that were barometers of the black experience. 

The history of these forms is well documented and acknowledged. 
Lesser known is the fact that concurrently developing across that same American landscape was a group of black inventors - visionary thinkers that were disciplined as scientists, engineers, chemists, mathematicians, doctors, servants and common folk. 

In spite of the oppressive racial policies that produced a standard of living devoid of the privileges enjoyed by most other Americans, this group triumphantly created innovative models that either revolutionized or advanced current technology and made vast improvements on prevailing archetypes. 

Simplicity, practical ingenuity, precise craftsmanship, utilitarianism and imaginative design personified their work making them significantly unique and endemic to their realities. Some of the inventions happened during the period of slavery but a majority occurred within a 35 year period afterwards. 
Many became prototypes for various current day ventures in commercial industries and institutions.

Some examples are:

Refrigerator, by J. Standard, June 14th 1891 perhaps led to the study of Cryogenics the branch of Physics that studies low temperature effects and production

Gas Mask, by Garret Morgan, October 13th 1914 saved many lives in both World Wars and other military conflicts. Variations on the design and function of the mask allowed for space travel.

Telephone Transmitter, by Granville T. Woods, December 2nd 1884 along with over 20other patents in electronics help give birth to tele-communications and a more efficient railway industry

Traffic Light, by Garrett Morgan, November 20, 1923, directly influenced the logistics of traffic control around the world

Shoe Lasting Machine, by Jan Matzeliger (Dutch & Suriname decent) evolved the shoe industry

Mayonnaise and Peanut-Butter, by the scientist George Washington Carver, has become an intrinsic part of western culture.



Exhibition

The exhibition concentrates on two areas 

• documentary historical accounts 

• the transformation of the inventions into works of art.

Historical accounts include  patent numbered drawings, archival text and narratives and available accounts and photographs of the inventors. Supplied with a list of inventors, 19 artists of various cultures from the 4 hemispheres selected one invention to reinterpret it into a critical work of art. 

The intercultural mix of artists shows the latitudinal effect that these inventions have had on the international community. 

The exhibition has scheduled lectures and panel discussions for intellectual support and as an exchange of dialogue with the public. 

A dvd that documents the exhibition and provides more information on the inventors and participating artists is also on view.. 

Meet the Artists - Watch the Artist Inerviews

music by Ghasem Batamuntu