A Womb of Violet is a project-based collective created by fayemi shakur that honors the work of contemporary Black women writers, poets and artists and pays homage to Black feminist and womanist thinkers.
A Womb of Violet Vol. II: On Blackness, Resistance, and Being
In the first volume of A Womb of Violet: An Anthology, the risograph artbook served as a medium to bring together Black women living in Newark to have discussions about womanhood and reckoning with self. Returning to the Womb, we unpack grief, loss, safety, Black joy and pain, and the essence of our Black lives as women-identified artists. We are reimagining the possibilities of a Black artist-centered collective amid a global pandemic and continued calls for racial justice and equity. The collective reconsiders its common with deep understanding— Black women and femmes are not monoliths.
Within this new collection of poetry, prose, photography, prints, essays, we reflect on our lived experiences, the ebbs of solitude and isolation, the complexity and simplicity of Black life’s importance and cultivate ideas of a future where we thrive.
How do we nurture self and ground in the swell of uncertainty? What purpose does our art serve? What is our art responding to? What is needed/necessary at this time? What needs to be said? What does radical love and liberation look like?
Tune in on Spotify
A Womb of Violet Vol. II celebrates Blackness across the African Diaspora, cultural revolution, our unique intergenerational perspectives, and our lived experiences. This curated Spotify playlist reflects these themes and features artists including Fela Kuti, Nina Simone, Alice Coltrane, Lauren Hill, Solange, Tierra Wack, Lianne La Havas and more….
“A Womb of Violet: An Anthology” was recently highlighted by The Met on their list of Three Artists’ Books in Celebration of Juneteenth.
“fayemi shakur, a writer, interdisciplinary artist, and arts advocate in Newark, New Jersey, described A Womb of Violet: An Anthology (2019) as “an ode to Black womanhood.” The publication was created by a New Jersey-based collective that shakur founded while Feminist in Residence at Project for Empty Space. In the introduction, shakur writes that the anthology represents “a collective of Black women across generations and identities, speaking our truth in the form of poetry, prose and visual art…This is a thick healing love letter to Black women, our city Newark, and beyond.” - Sophia Alexandrov
Read more on the Met Museum blog,