A Short History of Black Craft in Ten Objects - by Robell Awake (Hardcover)

About the Book

"Ten illustrated essays tell the stories of handcrafted objects and their makers, providing inspiration and insight into Black history and craftsmanship"--

Book Synopsis

Ten beautifully illustrated essays tell the stories of handcrafted objects and their makers, providing inspiration and insight into Black history and craftsmanship.

Black artisans have long been central to American art and design, creating innovative and highly desired work against immense odds. Atlanta-based chairmaker and scholar Robell Awake explores the stories behind ten cornerstones of Black craft, including:

• The celebrated wooden chairs of Richard Poynor, an enslaved craftsman who began a dynasty of Tennessee chairmakers.
• The elegant wrought-iron gates of Philip Simmons, seen to this day throughout Charleston, South Carolina, whose work features motifs from the Low Country.
• The inventive assemblage art and yard shows of Joe Minter, James Hampton, Bessie Harvey, and others, who draw on African spiritual traditions to create large-scale improvisational art installations.

From the enslaved potters of Old Edgefield, South Carolina, to Ann Lowe, the couture dressmaker who made Jacqueline Kennedy's wedding dress, to Gullah Geechee sweetgrass basket makers, to the celebrated quilters of Gee's Bend, A Short History of Black Craft in Ten Objects illuminates the work of generations of Black craftspeople, foregrounding their enduring contributions to American craft.

BLACK CRAFT AND AMERICANA: Delving into the history of Black skilled artisans, estimated to have outnumbered white artisans five to one in the southern United States in the late 1800s, this unique art history book celebrates handcrafted objects that reflect the dynamic nature of Black culture.

DYNAMIC ILLUSTRATED ESSAYS: Luminous color illustrations by artist Johnalynn Holland highlight beloved craft objects and their makers, creating a fascinating volume to study and treasure.

ART HISTORY EXPERTISE: Author Robell Awake is a notable furniture maker, artisan, and educator whose work has been featured in the New York Times and in group shows at Verso Gallery in New York City and the Center for Craft in Asheville, NC. Dr. Tiffany Momon, who contributes an afterword, is the founder and co-director of the Black Craftspeople Digital Archive and a leading scholar of Black history and African American placemaking throughout the southeast.

BEAUTIFUL GIFT BOOK: The gorgeous design is ideal for art collectors and craft enthusiasts, as a keepsake reminder of Black heritage, for Black History Month and beyond.

Perfect for:

• Anyone interested in the intersection of Black art, craft, and history
• Designers and craftspeople
• Educators and students
• Collectors and museum curators
• Lovers of fine and artisanal design objects

Review Quotes

"Drawing from oral histories, archival research, and object study, Robell Awake celebrates the design innovation and technological invention of Black Americans.... Awake's purpose is, above all, celebration and recognition of his subjects. With Johnalynn Holland's stunning illustrations of makers and the things they made, this is a love letter to Black creativity and to 'the power that objects have to keep histories, tell stories, and express things.'" --Booklist starred review

"Robell Awake debuts with a wondrous celebration of how 'Black people have resisted their erasure through craft' over the course of American history.... The history offers fascinating insight into the creative ways Black artists have pushed back against oppression, and Johnalynn Holland's dazzling illustrations highlight the dignity of the featured individuals and the remarkable craftsmanship that went into their creations. This will expand readers' understanding of what crafts can do, and what they're for." --Publishers Weekly starred review

"A Short History of Black Craft in Ten Objects represents not only a crucial act of historical recovery but also a deeply spiritual communion with the long and continuing legacy of Black craft in this country. Robell Awake introduces readers to ten crucial Black craft traditions, offering us a chance to peer into worlds of art, architecture, design, and style that are everywhere evident all around us: on our porches and in our living rooms; in the clothes we wear and the quilts that keep us warm at night. Johnalynn Holland's brilliant illustrations bring light and life to the Black craftspeople who fashioned whole worlds with their hands. This book is a triumph and a pleasure to read." --Jason R. Young, author of Rituals of Resistance: African Atlantic Religion in Kongo and the Lowcountry South in the Era of Slavery

"Carefully researched, eminently readable, and beautifully illustrated, A Short History of Black Craft in Ten Objects reveals the untold story of Black craft in America. If you care about Black art, Black history, or Black culture--and we all should--this book is simply indispensable." --James Forman Jr., Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Locking Up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black America

"I am powerfully grateful for the work that Robell Awake conducted in compiling this concise and compelling tour through ten historical objects of Black craft. I was already a fan of his magnificently constructed chairs, but now I can thank him further for elucidating for us readers the true source of several handcraft traditions that could use the exposure. These portraits have me planning a trip to the American Southeast to ogle these works in person, as well as many other cultural treasures for which we should be knowledgeably giving thanks." --Nick Offerman, actor, author, humorist, woodworker

"I learned more vital American history from this book than I did my entire formal education. We know Black and enslaved labor built this country's wealth; here Robell Awake lovingly reorients us toward the creativity, skill, and innovation inherent in Black craft. He celebrates the utilitarian and domestic as the artistic and cultural achievements they are. A book that will change how you see the world." --Angela Garbes, author of Essential Labor

"In ten illuminating episodes that render resistance and creativity inextricable, this book argues that the history of Black craft in the United States is a transatlantic history of Black self-determination. Challenging archival silences and erasure, Robell Awake is gorgeously multidisciplinary in his object case studies. He outlines a network of pioneering makers whose furniture, quilts, architecture, ceramics, couture, weaving, metalwork, and assemblage recorded and preserved ancestral knowledge, as well as shared experiences of joy and trauma, celebration and mourning. Awake makes the case--eloquently, yet with urgency--not only that Black histories must continue to be written, but that contemporary Black craftspeople and their material artistry can play a crucial role in that collective endeavor." --Irene Sunwoo, John H. Bryan Chair and Curator of Architecture and Design, Art Institute of Chicago

"Robell Awake has carefully selected ten object lessons that demonstrate the longevity and excellence of Black material culture, especially from the American South, ensuring visibility for the American historical record. This book is a generous love letter to Black culture and craft, making these important contributions legible to a broader public. As a maker, Awake offers a unique perspective by celebrating a community of Black craftspeople who have expressed ingenuity through creative production in a variety of mediums and through Black-centered collaborative endeavors." --Monica Obniski, curator and design historian

"Robell Awake's inviting text revels in the monumental achievements found in what some might dismiss as 'humble craft.' Taking readers through a history in which wood, clay, iron, cotton, and grass become tools of expression and resilience, Awake offers an insightful and joyous reading of objects that unequivocally assert themselves as triumphs of human ingenuity." --Paul Galloway, architecture design collection specialist, Museum of Modern Art, New York

"This is more than just an art book--it's a book of ethnology, history, and discovery. Awake is not just interested in the 'what' but the 'why?' and his willingness to seek out the answer makes this unlike any other text of its kind. This book is an ode to the ingenuity and resilience that define black American art and its rich history. That Awake focuses his talent and care on the less explored parts of America's artistic tradition is a gift to everyone, regardless of demographic. There is something for everyone inside these pages. This is a fascinating book--an engrossing and hopeful look at the history of Black art in America." --Josie Duffy Rice, writer, journalist, and host of the Unreformed podcast

About the Author

Robell Awake is a chairmaker, teacher, and researcher based in Atlanta, Georgia. His work aims to center Black aesthetic traditions and histories through scholarship and craft. He is a recipient of the 2022 Craft Research Fund--Artist Fellowship. Awake has taught at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship, Penland School of Craft, and Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts and presented at the Furniture Society, Warren Wilson College, Berea College, and the North Bennet Street School.

Johnalynn Holland is an artist, writer, and graphic designer whose illustration clients have included The Atlantic, The Guardian, the Peacock network, and the ACLU. She is a 2023-2024 Baldwin for The Arts Literature Fellow.

Dr. Tiffany Momon is the founder and co-director of the Black Craftspeople Digital Archive.