Audience members can be a part of history when they attend “Artist & Influence: An Oral History Interview with Noah Jemisin in conversation with Halima Taha” on Friday, Nov. 7, at 6:30 p.m.
The Artist & Influence conversation on Nov. 7 will feature artist Noah Jemisin, interviewed by Hammonds House director Halima Taha.
The event, inspired by the Artist & Influence journal and interview series created by Camille Billops and James V. Hatch, will be recorded and placed in the Billops-Hatch Archives at the Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library. Based in New York City, the couple collected materials created by and related to African American artists, playwrights, actors, musicians, dancers, and many others. The archive is a major resource for research in African American visual and performing arts of the 20th century.
The event is open to the public at no charge, but registration is encouraged.
Artist & Influence interview series
The relaunched Artist & Influence series continues the couple’s legacy and expands the Billops-Hatch Archives, connecting it to additional artists, says Rose Library’s curator of African American collections N’Kosi Oates.
“Camille Billops and James Hatch recognized the need for a platform where artists of color, especially African American artists, could reflect on their lives and work,” Oates says. “Artist & Influence was primarily based in New York and often featured voices from the Northeast. While we’ve maintained that spirit, we’re also intentionally bridging it to Atlanta’s vibrant Black arts scene.”
Now in its third year, Artist & Influence is an annual public event featuring a live oral history interview with a notable contemporary African American artist. Noah Jemisin is an artist and professor based in Brooklyn, New York, who has traveled extensively across Africa, Europe and Asia. Born in Birmingham, Alabama, his works have been exhibited in numerous collections across the United States and abroad, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
“This is an opportunity to engage deeply with an artist and learn about the experiences and ideas that have inspired their work,” says Rose Library director Elizabeth Ott. “Noah Jemisin is a significant living African American artist, with roots here in the South. We’re excited to welcome him back to the South to reflect on his life and how it’s influenced his art.”
Halima Taha, who will serve as interviewer, is a leading figure in the arts, widely recognized for her pioneering work, “Collecting African American Art: Works on Paper and Canvas.” She is the artistic director of the Hammonds House Museum in Atlanta, Georgia.
“The Artist & Influence series is not just significant for the person being interviewed, but also for the interviewer. Camille Billops and James Hatch were very thoughtful about who they asked to do these interviews,” says Ott. With Taha interviewing Jemisin, “it’s an artist interviewed by someone who’s deeply enmeshed in the world of art. We’ll experience two people speaking the same language, bringing us into the heart of the contemporary arts world.”
Billops-Hatch collection growth
Camille Billops (1933-2019) and James V. Hatch (1928-2020) founded the Artist & Influence journal in 1981 to preserve the histories of Black artists, musicians, writers, and filmmakers. The oral history archive contains more than 1,400 interviews documenting figures from the Harlem Renaissance as well as the careers of filmmakers, photographers, and other artists.
The collection also includes play scripts, photographs, posters, periodicals, pamphlets, playbills, programs, and other materials. The couple placed their archive with the Rose Library in 2002, and several subsequent additions have expanded the collection.
The interview series during the Billops and Hatch years include notable interviewees such as Benny Andrews, Ossie Davis, Ralph Ellison, Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor, and Howardena Pindell. A complete set can be found in their archive in the Rose Library.
In 2023, the Rose Library revived the tradition by launching a new annual series of Artist & Influence interviews to celebrate the collection. That year, multidisciplinary artists Keith and Mendi Obadike were the featured guests. In 2024, the featured guests included actresses and filmmakers Anna Maria Horsford and Victoria Rowell.
For more information about the Artist & Influence series or the Billops-Hatch Archive, contact N’Kosi Oates at nkosi [dot] oates [at] emory [dot] edu or the Rose Library at rose [dot] library [at] emory [dot] edu.
—by Maureen McGavin, senior writer, Emory Libraries