Saying the Hard Part Out Loud

Saying the Hard Part Out Loud

A dynamic public conversation on the intramural tensions of criticism, more specifically, how Black writers, artists, thinkers, makers, and creatives critique each other’s work in this contemporary moment. What can we say, and how do we say it, how can we be honest about the fears of saying the difficult parts out loud when we disagree, don’t like a work, or understand it?

Chicago Critics Table 2023 cohort members Rikki Byrd and Camille Bacon guide this important dialogue, creating space for reflection and inviting your questions and contributions.

BIOS

Rikki Byrd (she/her)

Rikki Byrd is a writer, educator, and curator who works across the academy, arts, and fashion industries. She holds a Bachelor of Journalism from the University of Missouri, a Master of Arts in Fashion Studies from Parsons School of Design, and a Master of Arts in African American Studies from Northwestern University, where she is also currently pursuing her PhD in African American Studies. She has lectured at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Washington University in St. Louis, where she created new courses on fashion and race. She has written for Hyperallergic, Cultured, and Teen Vogue, and has participated in speaking engagements with the Council of the Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), Google, Kering, and Studio Museum in Harlem, among several other arts and cultural institutions. In her writing and public speaking capacity, she has interviewed formidable fashion professionals and artists such as the late André Leon Talley, Amy Sherald, and Mickalene Thomas. Rikki is currently an editorial board member for Bloomsbury Fashion Publishing and a recipient of the esteemed Presidential Fellowship at Northwestern University and a Robert Rauschenberg Foundation Residency. She is the founder and editor of the Fashion and Race Syllabus and Black Fashion Archive.

Website: rikkibyrd.com

Social: @rikkibyrd

Camile Bacon (she/they)

Camille Bacon is a Chicago-based writer who is building a “sweet black writing life” as inspired by the words of poet Nikky Finney and the infinite wisdom of the Black feminist tradition more broadly. Through a methodology that straddles rigorous research and divinely derived oration, she aims to excavate how aesthetics can catalyze a collective reorientation towards relation, connection, and intimacy and away from apathy and amnesia. Ultimately, her work serves as the external embodiment of her commitment to amplifying the wayward ingenuity of the Black creative spirit. Camille’s work has appeared in i-D Magazine, Frieze, Cultured Magazine, Studio Magazine, Momus, and Burnaway, among other outlets. She currently manages McArthur Binion’s studio in Chicago, IL, and formerly held positions at GRAY Gallery, Chicago, IL; and The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY.