Exhibit explores black roots of pop music

An exhibit featuring African-American culture as the roots for much of America’s popular music will take place in Bloomington City Hall Atrium through Jan. 26, with a schedule of events including gallery talks and musical performances.

The Archives of African-American Music and Culture created “Rock, Rhythm & Soul: The Black Roots of Popular Music,” a traveling exhibit promoting and informing people of the history and roots of black popular music.

“Since preservation issues prevent us from circulating our materials like a library would, the exhibit allows us to bring some of our materials to the public,” said Portia Maultsby, director of the archives and professor of folklore and ethnomusicology.

The archives’ headquarters is one of the major scholastic repositories devoted to black music and expression.

Nine two-sided banners spotlight different genres of music and the history behind black pop music.

“The banners don’t allow us to tell the stories of these artists and musical genres in detail, so we’ve focused on bringing together bits of information and eye-catching images that will draw people into the exhibit and entice them to make their own investigations and discoveries about the black roots of popular music,” said Brenda Nelson-Strauss, head of collections for
the archives.

The Moveable Feast of the Arts program is sponsoring the exhibit. According to the program’s mission statement, its goals are to “showcase and extend IU’s cultural resources to Hoosier communities and IU campuses across the state.”

Part of the exhibit has already been featured at the Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library’s Brightwood branch, but will move to other locations, including the San Diego County Fair, helping the exhibit reach beyond academics.

“Different venues cater to different audiences, and we’d like to reach as many different kinds of people as possible,” said Ronda L. Sewald, administrator and project coordinator for the archives. “Our mission is to increase people’s awareness of the contributions that black artists have made to American music and to American culture in general.”