Living Histories
A New Monumental Archival Installation by Nikesha Breeze
“Bring Living Histories to life— Nikesha Breeze’s most ambitious work to date.”
monumental interactive sculptures, interactive sets, with live and recorded voices animating the first hand narratives of elder African Americans who experienced enslavement as children.
Help Realize Living Histories
Premiering at the Biennale of Sydney 2026
The first iteration of Living Histories is being commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney. While the commission affirms the significance of the work, the cost of realizing the full installation far exceeds the resources allotted by the Biennale.
To bridge this gap, we are raising an additional $125,000 to realize the full vision of this work and to support the artists who bring it into the world. These funds ensure the premiere in Sydney and also help carry the project to the United States, building a Living History Archive of hundreds of voices speaking the stories of formerly enslaved African American elders.
Campaign partners include the New Mexico Black Leadership Council, Richard Levy Gallery and generous donors like you to make Living Histories possible.
Be a part of Breeze’s global legacy by supporting Living Histories
Donations of any size are deeply appreciated.
All contributions are processed through the New Mexico Black Leadership Council, the official 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsor for this project.
Limited Edition work for early donors
Early supporters can receive exclusive, limited edition sculptures and prints by artist Nikesha Breeze. These editions are offered at a special pre-release price exclusively through this fundraiser and are published by Richard Levy Editions.
Isadora and Mary Noe Freeman 72" x 53" Oil on Canvas
The first 100 donations of $350 or more receive A limited edition archival pigment prints from Nikesha Breeze’s Archival Portraiture series, measuring 20 x 16 inches ($950 value). In this series of large-scale and miniature oil paintings, Nikesha takes us through the visual history of Black Americans, focusing on the earliest photographic records of daguerreotypes, tintypes, and emulsion photos dating back to the 1850s.
108 Death Masks: a Communal Prayer for Peace and Justice; Bronze Limited Edition 1/18
Pre release offering of 10 bronze masks (from an edition of 18) reserved for contributions of $7,000 or more ($12,500 value). This one of a kind Artist’s Proof Edition Is a rare opportunity to collect this ground breaking work. The 108 Death Masks were formed in clay over a 108-day vigil, later cast in West African bronze in Ghana, and installed at the Equal Justice Initiative’s Freedom Monument Sculpture Park in Montgomery, Alabama in honor of the six million lives lost in enslavement in the United States.
This immersive sculptural and performance installation reanimates the narratives of African Americans interviewed in the 1930s United States Federal Writers Project “Born into Slavery.” A vast oral history archive of over 2500 first hand accounts of African American elders who experienced enslavement as children. Breeze excavates these stories to create a living memory of embodied ritual, ancestral witness, and monumental sculptural presence.
“This work enlivens history in a monumental way. It is sculpture. It is the living sound of a hundred elders’ voices. It is monumental textile work. It is original music and voice. It is live performance, and interactive sets, it is a Living History. ”
About the Artist
Nikesha Breeze
Nikesha Breeze is an African American/Assyrian interdisciplinary artist working from an Afrocentric, Afrofuturistic viewpoint. Their practice spans painting, sculpture, installation, performance, and film, creating layered works that engage ancestral memory and archival resurrection. Breeze’s award-winning work 108 Death Masks: A Communal Prayer for Peace and Justice was recreated in bronze and included in the permanent collection of the Equal Justice Initiative’s Freedom Monument Sculpture Park. In 2025, Yale University commissioned Breeze to create a new permanent monument acknowledging the university's historical ties to slavery and the slave trade.
ABOUT THE BIENNALE OF SYDNEY
Since 1973, the Biennale of Sydney has established itself as one of the world's most significant contemporary art events, presenting groundbreaking work by over 2,400 artists from more than 130 countries.
Curated by Hoor Al Qasimi, President and Director of the Sharjah Art Foundation, the 25th Biennale continues to serve as a vital platform for innovative artistic expression and cultural dialogue.
Presented in Partnership with Richard Levy Gallery
Founded in 1991, Richard Levy Gallery is a contemporary art gallery in Albuquerque, New Mexico, representing emerging and established artists working across painting, photography, sculpture, and new media. The gallery has long supported Nikesha Breeze’s practice and is proud to collaborate on this international presentation of Living History at the Biennale of Sydney. Richard levy Gallery publishes fine art prints and sculptures as Richard Levy Editions.
Fiscal Sponsor: New Mexico Black Leadership Council
The New Mexico Black Leadership Council (NMBLC) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to strengthening Black communities through cultural, educational, and economic initiatives across New Mexico. As the official fiscal sponsor for Living History, NMBLC ensures that all donations are processed with transparency and integrity. Contributions made through NMBLC are fully tax-deductible and directly support the realization of this project.
Fiscal Sponsor: New Mexico Black Leadership Council
All donations are processed through NMBLC, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Contributions are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.
Contact: Richard Levy Gallery
info@levygallery.com | 505.766.9888
www.levygallery.com