The Funky Turns 40: Black Character Revolution Exhibition

Mark your calendars.  The Funky Turns 40 in 2014!  Curated by Pamela Thomas, The Museum of Uncut Funk presents The Funky Turns 40: Black Character Revolution exhibition: A retrospective of 1970′s Saturday morning animation art featuring black characters.  The exhibition includes 60 pieces of original animation art representative of a bygone era of traditional animation production on cels.  From Fat Albert  to Valerie Brown of Josie and the Pussy Cats to Lt. Uhura of Star Trek, each piece represents a historical first for black television characters.

Pamela writes, “What makes the Funky Turns 40: Black Character Revolution Exhibition unique is both the breadth of the artwork that we feature and the historically important story that it tells. We own one of the world’s most extensive collections of 1970’s Black Animation art, which allows us to create a truly unique exhibition experience. More importantly, our exhibition focuses on one of the positive outcomes of the Civil Rights Movement, a story that to this point has not been told. The art in the exhibition commemorates the 40th anniversaries of 1970’s Saturday morning cartoons that featured positive Black characters for the first time in television history. This 1970‘s revolution in how Black animation characters were developed and portrayed in Hollywood represents historic change and the ultimate manifestation of Dr. Martin Luther King’s dream. For the first time characters of all races lived, played and worked together as equals. By highlighting this positive aspect of our experience we are able to engage and educate people in a fun and uplifting way.”

Star Trek Lt. Uhura Original Production Cel

The Funky Turns 40: Black Character Revolution Exhibition will be touring to the following museums in 2014-early 2015:

• January 29-June 14, 2014 – The Schomburg Center For Research in Black Culture – New York, NY

• July 13-October 20, 2014 – DuSable Museum Of African American History – Chicago, IL

• November 22, 2014 -March 1, 2015 – Northwest African American Museum – Seattle, WA

You can learn more about the exhibition here: http://museumofuncutfunk.com/2012/01/08/funky-turns-40-black-character-revolution-animation-exhibition/.

ASIFA-East will likely organize a group trip to view this important exhibit.  Stay tuned!

Fat Albert Original Production Cel