Grace Wales Bonner Delves Into Howard University's Archives For Limited Print Publication
The British designer’s research project ‘Between Critique and Hope’ partnered with the historically-Black DC university to celebrate its legacy.
Howard Universal is the limited-edition print publication by Grace Wales Bonner in honor of the legacy of Howard University, a highly-renowned HBCU (Historically Black College & University) in Washington DC. With archival imagery, alumni reflections, and student submissions, Wales Bonner’s research project weaves a portrait that bridges the present and past of the historic institution.
Sharing more in a statement, Wales Bonner said “At Howard University I felt the presence of an impressive intellectual lineage, one I had long been drawn to from afar. Writers, artists, poets, together on the hilltop. The campus as haven, as a shining reflection of black light. This tribute to the lineage reveals the phenomenon of everyday expression. The gesture of the student with eyes on the horizon, the dress of the teacher returning to guide, the traces of style as my way into a special history.”
Photographs from the university’s yearbook archive dating from 1947 to 2011 are presented alongside present images documented on campus by D’Andre Williams. The roster of collaborators and special features is extensive with a testimony from musical artist Laraaji, works submitted by cinematographer Bradford Young and stylist Marcus Paul, and reprints from late author Toni Morrison. The entirety of the project’s contents were designed into the book by the founder of Red Lebanese Publishing House Pablo Jomaron.
The publication’s archival sensibilities recall Wales Bonner’s recent FW25 collection which featured photographs from The Black Image Corporation by Chicago-based artist Theaster Gates. With a selection of images from the Johnson Publishing Company, the collection honors Black women’s contributions to global culture with special half-tone graphics. Earlier in 2024, the designer also paid homage to the home of hip-hop with her adidas Originals FW24 collection, which was shot in Harlem, New York City.
Howard Universal is being distributed for free at the Howard University Campus in Washington D.C., the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in New York, For Keeps Books in Atlanta, Reference Point Library in London, and the Stuart Hall Library in London.
