Deyane Moses is an artist, activist, and curator. In 2019, she graduated from MICA with a BFA in Photography.
During her senior year she received international national recognition for her project, The Maryland Institute Black Archives (MIBA), which uncovered MICA’s Black history from the 1800s–present. MIBA and its accompanying programs – the exhibition Blackives and the remembrance demonstration Take Back the Steps – prompted MICA’s President to issue a public statement apologizing for the College’s racist past. MIBA is the premier resource for information related to Black history at MICA. The collection consists of more than a thousand primary and secondary artifacts, including photographs, rare books, art, documents, music, clippings, and oral histories.
:: An informal interview with Deyane
What are your preferred pronouns?
She/Her
Where do you call home?
Baltimore, MD
What is your program and year of graduation?
MFA, Curatorial Practice '21
What inspired you to take the leap of going to graduate school?
The prospect of developing my undergraduate thesis The Maryland Institute Black Archives (MIBA) and integrating it into MICA's community/curriculum.
How has this scholarship impacted your thinking and process during your time in graduate school?
This scholarship has allowed me to concentrate on my curatorial studies and not finances. I am inspired, more than ever, to provide scholarship opportunities for artists of color.
What have you been working on? Share the driving questions and inspiration that informs your work as an artist, designer, educator and/or activist.
I am currently working with artists to create artwork inspired by the archive as well as redesign MIBA's database. I have been be hosting several 30-minute virtual events inspired by MICA's Black history or Black archives. My work is inspired by the isolation and absence of representation I, and many others, feel as a Black artist studying art and design. Yet, we know our community, the Black community, is rich with art history and unsung heroes. My curatorial practice is currently dedicated to researching, collecting, preserving, and uplifting members of MICA's Black community.
Do you have a website or art instagram you'd like to share? Please do so here!
@deyanemoses, @miba.online, and @_blackives