Tara Jerome-Barnabé (TJB)

“Fafanto’s children are brought together in an act of freedom. For too long have their faces and existences been trapped under a merciless gaze or faded into the background. They no longer serve their masters, offering them pearls or bowls of fruit, holding maps of the conquered land. Their stories were silently told and here they are given the space to express them.”

‘Fafanto’s Children’ is a work made with the intention to create a new historical narrative for black children painted into aristocratic paintings of the 16th-18th century. These ‘house boys/girls’ were symbolically incorporated into prestigious artworks of the main sitter as means to lift their status and exalt their appearance of power and purity. They stare adoringly at their masters, offering them gifts or even their bodies as an arm rest while the subject in focus stares at the viewer as if to say “look at how I am worshipped.”

This piece is an offering to the individuals featured in it. Their faces have been transcribed from these paintings into a new space where they can proudly step into the foreground.

Paintings include:

Princess Henrietta of Lorraine (1611–1660), Attended by a Page. by Van Dyke : 1634 

Countess of Dysart and Duchess of Lauderdale (1626–1698) and an Attendant by Sir Peter Lely : 1651

Louise de Kéroualle, Duchess of Portsmouth with an unknown female attendant by Pierre Mignard : 1682

Sir John Chardin with an unknown male attendant by Unknown artist : 1711 

Two Girls with their Black Servant by Joseph Wright: 1769-1770

Fafanto is an African Andinkra symbol symbolizing gentleness, tenderness and fragility. It is also a symbol for change and metamorphosis which encourages us to treat each other with kindness. I chose the title ‘Fafanto’s Children’ for these reasons in this healing. These figures are realizing new, considerate and reflective times in their meeting and celebration.