Dorothy Berry & Sumayya Ahmed on Archives

The Smart Museum of Art at the University of Chicago is a site for rigorous inquiry and exchange that encourages the examination of complex issues through the lens of art objects and artistic practice. Through strong community and scholarly partnerships, the Museum incorporates diverse ideas, identities, and experiences into its exhibitions and collections, academic initiatives, and public programming. The Smart first opened in 1974. Admission is always free.

Smart Museum of Art

Dorothy Berry and Sumayya Ahmed discuss the possibilities of Black archives within and outside of cultural heritage institutions. With BMRC.

Archivist Dorothy Berry and Black Metropolis Research Consortium (BMRC) Director Sumayya Ahmed discuss the possibilities of Black archives within and outside of cultural heritage institutions. The event is held in at the Smart Museum in collaboration with <a href="https://bmrc.lib.uchicago.edu/" title="https://bmrc.lib.uchicago.edu/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">BMRC</a>.

Dorothy Berry is an archivist and writer who works creatively to make archival collections related to Black life available more broadly. Those same archival methodologies influence her writing, which has appeared in publications including The Los Angeles Review of Books, The Public Domain Review, and Lapham’s Quarterly.

Sumayya Ahmed is Director of the Black Metropolis Research Consortium, a Chicago-based association of libraries, universities, museums, and community and arts organizations that promote discovery, preservation, and use of Black historical collections.

<h2>IMAGE</h2>Book cover of The House Archives Built and Other Thoughts on Black Archival Possibilities by Dorothy Berry. We Here Press, 2025.

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Dorothy Berry & Sumayya Ahmed on Archives

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Dorothy Berry & Sumayya Ahmed on Archives

More events from Smart Museum of Art

Discover more events from Smart Museum of Art, from Arts to other experiences you might love.

Family Day: Zooming in and Zine-ing Out: What Does Science Mean to You?

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Friday Tour: Composing Color

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