Exhibition Opening: Torture Island: Past, Present, Future

Exhibition Opening: Torture Island: Past, Present, Future

In 1829, while a fourteen-year-old future abolitionist, minister, and Weeksville notable Henry Highland Garnet is at sea working as a cabin boy to supplement his family’s meager income, slave catchers ransacked his family’s New York City home. His parents, who escaped enslavement in Maryland just five years earlier, are able to evade capture. His teenage sister Eliza is eventually detained and brought before City Recorder Richard Riker as a fugitive. She is acquitted with the help of a savvy lawyer who provides false evidence that she was born in New York and not Maryland.” -Riker’s Public Memory Project timeline

The Garnets’ family story was all too common during Riker’s time as city recorder, and he would become notorious for terrorizing free and freedom-seeking Black New Yorkers. This February, we are honored to bring light to stories like Eliza’s as we partner with the Rikers Public Memory Project to present their exhibition Torture Island: Past, Present, Future. This powerful collection features creative works, historical insights, and personal stories about Rikers Island—the active NYC jail complex in the East River.

Curated by the Rikers Public Memory Project, the exhibition amplifies the voices and experiences of those directly impacted by Rikers, with a mission to mobilize healing and challenge dehumanizing narratives.

Join us for the exhibition opening on Saturday, February 1st, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. The evening will include thought-provoking presentations by the 2024 Rikers Narrative Change Community Fellows and opportunities to mingle and explore the gallery. 

Throughout the month, the Rikers Public Memory Project will host a series of panel discussions, workshops, and screenings to deepen the conversation.