<I>Enroute</I>
date: label: Date
content: 2000
name: label: Created by
content: Radcliffe Bailey, American, 1968 - 2023
notes: label: Caption
content: “I find myself trying to deal with the history and the pains but also wanting to deal with the beauty. . . . I often work with layers, often with seven layers, because I never know when to finish, but a lot of the layers have to deal with some of the complexities with who we are, as well.” — Radcliffe Bailey
label: Caption
content: Enroute is a multilayered exploration of memory, ancestral legacy, migration, and Black agency. It simultaneously references the route of the Middle Passage, where enslaved Africans traveled in bondage to the new world, the route on the underground railroad that enslaved people took in their quest for self-emancipation, and the great migration of Black southerners to major industrial northern cities to escape racial oppression and to pursue new opportunities and freedoms.
label: Description
content: A dense collage of paper and photographs mounted to paper with resin, all painted over in thick, swirling strokes of black, orange, ochre, and mint green acrylic paint. At the center of the artwork is a color photograph of a group of individuals aboard a dugout style boat on an open body of water. At each end of the boat is a figure standing and guiding the boat with poles. Other symbols and images throughout the artwork include train tracks, an oak leaf, the carved base of a chair, a statue figure, and pages with printed text.
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: African diaspora
label: Topic
content: Art
label: Topic
content: Great Migration
label: Topic
content: Identity
label: Topic
content: Middle Passage
label: Topic
content: Migrations
label: Topic
content: Self-liberation
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Classification
content: Visual Arts
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Terry and Jennifer Weiss and family
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2014.305ab
objectType: label: Type
content: collages
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: © Radcliffe Bailey
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: mixed media : acrylic, resin, glitter, metallic paint, with oak leaf and photographic materials on paper
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (sheet): 58 × 70 in. (147.3 × 177.8 cm)
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D (framed): 62 9/16 × 74 11/16 × 2 3/8 in. (158.9 × 189.7 × 6 cm)