Akinsanya Kambon: Soul Sessions

In a two-venue collaboration, SculptureCenter and the Center for Art, Research and Alliances (CARA) present Soul Sessions, the first survey exhibition of artist, educator, and organizer Akinsanya Kambon (b. 1946, Sacramento, CA) in New York City. This career-spanning exhibition traces Akinsanya Kambon's decades-long practice through ceramics, paintings, drawings, and archival materials. Deeply informed by Kambon's formal art training and political education, which includes serving as a Marine Corps infantryman and combat illustrator, Lieutenant of Culture for the Sacramento Chapter of the Black Panther Party, and co-founder of the Pan African Art Gallery with Susan Tama-sha Ross Kambon, the exhibition is a testament to the artist's technical excellence, formal inventiveness, and lifelong dedication to struggles for Pan-African liberation. Soul Sessions borrows its title from weekly gatherings organized by Black soldiers in Vietnam during the Vietnam War. These "soul sessions" became spaces of learning, fostering solidarity, education, and community building. The exhibition expands on this concept to highlight the pedagogical dimensions of Kambon's practice, emphasizing his sustained engagement with historical events and ideas that shape liberatory movements—particularly Black resistance to colonialism and slavery.