Date of Award
Spring 5-1-2026
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Fine Arts (MFA)
Department
Film and Media Studies
First Advisor
kara lynch
Second Advisor
Christina Freeman
Academic Program Adviser
Andrew Lund
Abstract
Water and Wall is a performance and research project that honors the legacies and labor of Black oyster men in nineteenth century Lower Manhattan by recontextualizing the area as a key site of Black history, movement and resistance. In the 1800s, New York City was the oyster capital of the world. Oysters grew abundantly in New York waters and shaped ecology and economy. Much of the labor that sustained the industry was performed by Black men, both freed and enslaved. Many of them carried maritime and oyster harvesting knowledge from West Africa and the Caribbean. After emancipation in New York, oyster work enabled Black men to gain economic independence. They invested in Black communities, schools, and churches, and supported abolitionist and resistance efforts. This project began as an attempt to understand these obscured histories, and explore whether they might be visible again through performance and image transferring. As efforts to restore oysters in New York Harbor gain visibility, Water and Wall considers the restoration of these obscured histories equally necessary as ecological work. Water and Wall invites audiences to step into this ongoing research and remembrance process, bringing together archival material and documentation of site-specific performances to create space for reflections on Black labor and history in Lower Manhattan.
Recommended Citation
Thomas, Amara, "Water and Wall" (2026). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/hc_sas_etds/1557
Included in
African American Studies Commons, Africana Studies Commons, American Material Culture Commons, Art Practice Commons, Fine Arts Commons, Visual Studies Commons
