SLOWER-THAN-LIGHT SHRINE: IN REMEMBRANCE OF THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD
2023 Permanent Artwork On view
Artist Black Quantum Futurism
Curator James McAnally
Address
2223 St Louis Ave
St. Louis, MO
Site Description
In 2015, collector of Black memorabilia Calvin Riley opened the George B. Vashon Museum, named after George Boyer Vashon, an African American scholar, poet, lawyer, and abolitionist. The Vashon is part of the African American history museum district on St. Louis Avenue which includes the Griot Museum of Black History.
Artwork Details
About the Artwork
SLOWER-THAN-LIGHT SHRINE: IN REMEMBRANCE OF THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD is a public monument and portal paying homage to liberation seekers who traversed the Underground Railroad in St. Louis, using the caves beneath the city on their path. The shrine honors the abolitionist movement and marronage of the Underground Railroad, and the resonance of the issues urgent in the present and relative future(s). The shrine is constructed in the image of a Kongo cosmogram as well as configurations related to quantum physics experiments with gates and archways drawn from demolished homes in St. Louis.
