The International African American Museum (IAAM) launched a special six-week interdisciplinary learning, research, and production experience, the IAAM Cultural Fellowship, running from July 15 to August 26. The experience brings together four emerging historians, artists, and filmmakers from Barbados and the United States to explore the historical and contemporary connections between Charleston and Barbados and how African-descendant communities create, preserve, and reimagine cultural traditions across generations.
“The IAAM Cultural Fellowship was designed to create space for emerging historians, artists, and filmmakers to learn across disciplines, communities, and places,” said Brandon Reid, IAAM’s Public Historian, who developed and leads the fellowship. “Charleston and Barbados share deep historical connections, but those histories have developed into distinct cultural traditions and expressions. By learning alongside scholars, artists, tradition bearers, and communities in both places, the fellows are exploring how culture is preserved, reshaped, and used to create belonging across generations. Their work will contribute new perspectives and creative storytelling to IAAM, while also helping inform a future special exhibition at the museum.”
The fellowship bridges historical research, creative expression, and public humanities
The fellows will translate that research into original digital and documentary projects, creating accessible opportunities for audiences to encounter the people, places, traditions, and stories explored throughout the experience. Their work will also contribute research and content to future educational and exhibition initiatives at IAAM.
The Cultural Fellowship received funding support provided by Smurfit Westrock.
This year's cohort includes:
- Connor Harris (Historian | Barbados) – University of the West Indies at Cave Hill (BA, Literatures in English, expected 2026); emerging literary scholar and cultural researcher exploring Caribbean symbolism and folklore as repositories of cultural memory.
- Menen Ebrahim (Visual Artist | United States) – Middlebury College & Spelman College (Black Studies | Studio Art | Psychology); multidisciplinary visual artist, archivist, and curator focusing on Black cultural memory, photography, and archival preservation.
- Yvette Fordjour (Historian | United States) – Spelman College (BA, English & Black Studies, 2026); writer and researcher drawing upon Black feminist thought, oral history, and ritual to examine embodied cultural practice.
- Bem Chinua Granville Wells (Documentary Filmmaker | Barbados) – Barbadian documentary filmmaker and media producer specializing in long-form cultural storytelling and community heritage preservation.
Six Weeks of Immersive Cultural Experience
The IAAM Cultural Fellowship moves fellows from shared learning and research into place-based exploration and collaborative creative production:
- Virtual Preparatory Learning: Collaborative learning and research grounding fellows in the histories connecting South Carolina and Barbados, African Diasporic cultural traditions, public humanities, and approaches to ethical community-engaged research.
- Dual Field Residencies: Immersive field research across Charleston and Barbados, including visits to museums, archives, historic sites, cultural spaces, and community gatherings, alongside conversations and recorded interviews with scholars, artists, tradition bearers, cultural practitioners, and community members.
- Collaborative Production: Fellows translate their research, field experiences, and documentation into original digital and documentary projects designed to make their findings accessible to broader audiences and contribute to future educational and exhibition work at IAAM.
