A Queer Black Body: Thomas Allen Harris

Since the mid-1980s, multidisciplinary artist and filmmaker, Thomas Allen Harris Jr (Tahj), has used a wide range of media including video, photography, installations, film, and performance to examine the nuances of Black and queer identity and subjectivity, particularly within the construction of the diaspora and the family model.

Harris has been developing a co-creative and socially engaged practice that re-interprets identity, autobiography, and representation in the digital archive. For over three decades, by interweaving personal biographical material, Harris illuminates the notion of family through the Black queer gaze and pushes the boundaries of documentary filmmaking by creating internal and external dialogues that champion self-actualization and transcend artificial boundaries.

In this week-long celebration of Tahj’s body of work, a series of videotapes derived from the artist’s archive from the 1990s, his first feature documentary film Vintage: Families of Value, as well as the PBS broadcast documentary series Family Pictures USA will all be screened at Scribe Video Center.

Through a pop-up archival exhibition, A Return: Reflections, Place & Diaspora, curated by Darah Gaines Martin, we visit Brazil as well as various US cities during the 1990s, diving into various themes of family, spirituality, and self. We find ourselves in conversation with critically acclaimed poet and activist Essex Hemphill and transported back to moments of pre-adolescence, grappling with the concepts of intersectional identities. In these six pieces, Harris uniquely examines diasporic culture, as well as the human condition and Black and queer identity, through the preservation of the present moment, including candid discussion and performance art. In Vintage: Families of Value, Thomas captures three Black families through the eyes of gay and lesbian siblings including Harris and his brother Lyle Ashton Harris. The film examines the family model around themes of sexuality and identity. In addition to Vintage, Cass Arrington, a former student of Tahj and Philadelphia native, will screen their short film, The World Before Me, about multi-generational experiences of growing up queer across two generations of family history.

Through this showcase, we pay homage to the dynamic benevolence that is Black and queer identity. Each piece selected for viewing encompasses the multiple dimensions of Tahj’s artistic practice through the exploration of togetherness and individuality. “A Queer Black Body” honors influences across the diaspora as well as cultural spaces, leaders and artists that have, in some way shape or form, led us to come together presently at The Scribe Video Center in Philadelphia.

Tahj’s video archive will be open to the public starting Monday, February 17th until February 24th. All attendees will be given the option to engage with the material through written and/or visual response modules for the course of the exhibition. The two night screening will happen on Thursday, February 20th and Friday, February 21st at 7pm.

The Films

Thursday, February 20th at 7:00pm

The World Before Me

(2022, 6 min)

This essay film follows Cass Arrington’s journey to explore the experiences of growing up queer across multiple generations of shared family history, through reconnecting with a distant aunt from North Philadelphia.

Vintage: Families of Value

(1995, 71 min)

Director Thomas Allen Harris’ Vintage: Families of Value is a thoughtful examination of three Black families through the eyes of gay and lesbian siblings including Harris and his brother Lyle Ashton Harris. This lyrical and impressionistic film blends dramatic re-creations, verité footage, performance, audiovisual collage, and archival photos and films to sketch a provocative tableau of three modern Black families negotiating sexuality and identity.

Thomas Allen Harris is a critically acclaimed, interdisciplinary artist, filmmaker, and scholar whose work explores family, identity, and spirituality.

Darah Gaines Martin (she/they) is an NYC-based filmmaker and producer. Graduating from Delaware State University with a B.A. in Public Relations and Advertising, Darah’s work across film and video centers joy, exploration, and self actualization. Currently, Darah works as an associate producer on Thomas Allen Harris’ upcoming feature documentary film My Mom, The Scientist.

Cassidy Arrington is a 23 year old nonbinary multi-media artist based in and from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with a BA in Ethnicity, Race, & Migration Studies from Yale College. In 2024, Arrington became a resident artist at the TILT Institute for the Contemporary Image and the Painted Bride Art Center.

Director Thomas Allen Harris, is expected to be joined by Cass Arrington, Darah Gaines Martin, Donald Perry for post-screening discussions on Thursday and Friday. Conversations will be moderated by special guest programmer Denise A. Greene.