Call
for Artists and craft persons
Project Overview:
The
Schuyler Flatts Burial Project was created to provide an honorable, dignified
and respectful burial for the human skeletal remains of 14 African Americans
found in Colonie. Investigations revealed that during the 18th and early
19th centuries, the location was a Negro burial ground in an area described as
Schuyler Flatts, which was part of a large estate owned by the Colonial
Schuyler family.
On June 5th, 2005 construction work in the Town of Colonie, NY (Route 32 near
Menands/Watervliet) revealed an unmarked burial ground. Archaeologists
discovered 13 sets of remains plus another set of remains was found in 1998. A
total of 14 individuals were discovered.
In
2010, bioarchaeological analysis was completed by the NYS Museum. The analyses
determined that the remains are about 200 years old and represent 6 women, 1
man, 2 children, and five infants. DNA analysis concluded that four of the
individuals are of African descent. (West/East and Central Africa) Two sets of
remains are descendants of women from Madagascar (off the coast of Southeast
Africa). One individual, who may have been of mixed ancestry, was descendant
from a Native American woman (possibly Micmac Tribe: Eastern Canada and the
Northeastern corner of the United States). The burial ground was dated between
the 1700s and early 1800s. Historical research indicates that the burial ground
was part of a large estate owned by the colonial Schuyler family who owned a
number of slaves in the 18th and 19th centuries. The Schuyler Flatts Burial
Ground Project Committee is in the process of planning and implementing a
ceremony at St Agnes Cemetery located in Menands, NY on Saturday, June 18th
2016.
Artistic Burial Containers:
Schuyler
Flatts Burial Ground Project Committee is soliciting design proposals to create
burial containers.
All
containers should be artistically constructed of wood (natural wood only, not
laminates or synthetic materials, although wood stains are encouraged) and
should measure 2 feet long, by 1 foot wide and 1 foot deep. The finished piece
should have a top which can either be opened or removed and fastened to the
container. All designs should incorporate the symbol “Sankofa” defined and
illustrated below.
All
burial containers will be used as funerary containers and buried filled with a
set of remains. The containers will be on display during two ceremonial
events, but there is neither honorarium nor financial compensation
for participating in this project. All work and the final containers will be
donated to the project. Each artist will have the opportunity to discuss their work at
one of the events. The remains will lie in state at the Schuyler Mansion State
Historic Site on June 17th 2016. The containers will be the honored
resting place for these ancestors.
Sankofa:
Sankofa
is a word in the Akan language of Ghana that translates as "reach back and
get it" (san - to return; ko - to go; fa - to fetch, to seek and take) and
also refers to the Asante Adinkra symbol. Sankofa is often associated with the
proverb, “Se wo were fi na wosankofa a yenkyi," which translates as:
"It is not wrong to go back for that which you have forgotten."
Submission guidelines
All
submissions should include:
•
Artist’s bio (less than 1 page in MS Word or PDF format)
•
Description explaining the meaning of the piece of art (less than 1 page in MS
Word or PDF format)
• A
visual/graphic representation which accurately reflects the appearance of the
final built piece in JPEG, TIFF or PDF format, the graphic should include views
from the top, side and front. The design should incorporate the symbol
Sankofa referenced in the previous section. Groups of artists and craft people may apply jointly.
Project Deadline and Questions
All
questions and inquiries about the project should be submitted via email to
schuylerflattsburialground@gmail.com all submissions must be received via email
by January 18th 2016. Selected artists will be notified by February 1st
2016. For more information visit http://schuylerflattsburialground.blogspot.com/
Project
Sponsors:
Come and honor the 14 formerly enslaved individuals found at Schuyler Flatts as they Lie in State at Schuyler Mansion State Historic Site on June 17th from 12pm - 8pm.
