Emancipation Exhibit Opening Wednesday Kicks off Freedom Week on St. Thomas

On Wednesday, the Virgin Islands Council of the Arts (VICA) will premiere its emancipation exhibit, “Celebrating the Virgin Islands Freedom Week,” at 5:30 p.m. at its location in downtown Charlotte Amalie on St. Thomas. The exhibit is free and will be open to the public until July 2.

The exhibit, which kicks off Freedom Week on St. Thomas, features photographs that narrate the cumulative stories that shape the understanding of the Virgin Islands’ road to liberation for enslaved persons in the Danish West Indies and their pre-emancipation reality. Freedom Week marks the seven-day period prior to the official Emancipation Day celebrated on July 3.

Kendall Henry, the special project coordinator for VICA, believes that this exhibit offers an opportunity for the community to be engaged with their history and culture in a meaningful way.

“These archives offer a view through the looking glass of where we have come as Virgin Islanders. We are able to see how our physicalities have shifted through the years, including clothing, landscape and infrastructure. On the other side of that coin, we are also able to see how much still remains the same, offering threads of connection back to our ancestors and their lives before us,” Henry said.