Title: Zora Neale Hurston and the Harlem Renaissance: Searching for Identity @ Project Mosaic: Hurston
Headings: Zora Neale Hurston and the Harlem Renaissance: Searching for Identity
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Zora Neale Hurston and the Harlem Renaissance: Searching for Identity
The Works
Female Identity
Music and Cultural Identity
Land and Labor
Aaron Douglas (1898-1979)
Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960)
William H. Johnson (1901-70)

Content: It has been known as the “New Negro Movement” and, while it was centered in Harlem in New York City, other locations were also influenced. Zora Neale Hurston served an influential role during this time period. It is important to understand the significance of this era in history and how African American people were able to develop and adapt their own ideals, morals, and customs through creativity and art. Therefore, the focus of the exhibition is on the African American search for identity in the post-slavery period and the creation and self-expression through art during the Harlem Renaissance. As a novelist, anthropologist, and folklorist, Hurston was recognized for her distinctive way of relaying her feelings and ideals about racial division and for her efforts to connect both the artistic world and the African American population. Through her creativity, meaningful and ornate words, and undeniable talent, Hurston helped develop a common identity for her people during an influential time in history. Virtual Exhibition
The Works
This exhibition presents a special opportunity to explore connections between the historic literary works of Zora Neale Hurston and the analytical expressive arts of the Harlem Renaissance. Zora Neale Hurston and the Harlem Renaissance: Searching for Identity is an innovative display of art and sculpture from the Harlem Renaissance combined with literary works that will explore connections between Hurston’s written expression of African-American heritage and parallel examination by notable African-American artists working contemporaneously during the Harlem Renaissance. Themes of identity were extremely prominent in African American art during this period of cultural flux.