Music Video
as
Black Art

Music Video as Black Art is an invitation to explore the work of Black filmmakers whose practice has been shaped by black musical traditions and inspired by musicians’ achievements. It offers a pathway into the liquid blackness archive highlighting the role of music in contemporary black filmmaking practices that span across media (filmmaking, video, and installation art) and venues (from art galleries to digital platforms). An outgrowth of Alessandra Raengo’s “Theories of Black Filmmaking” class, this is an ensemblic work in progress consciously pushing against every single term that makes up its title. Indeed, what is music video? How did black artists contribute to the genre?  How is their contribution changing our understanding of what counts as art? How is musically informed filmmaking creating a black aesthetics for contemporary cinema and visual arts?