To Pray Without Ceasing —
“An unfinished calendar...” by JJJJJerome Ellis
JJJJJerome Ellis’s exhibition An Unfinished Calendar That Commemorates Slaves Escaping Their Enslavers, 1673–1886 at Secession opens a space for prayer, remembrance, and ancestral honors.
Review by Inga Charlotte Thiele
15 Oct, 2026
JJJJJerome Ellis: An unfinished calendar that commemorates slaves escaping their enslavers, 1673–1886. Installation view, Secession 2026. Photo by Oliver Ottenschläger
JJJJJerome Ellis: An unfinished calendar that commemorates slaves escaping their enslavers, 1673–1886. Installation view, Secession 2026. Photo by Oliver Ottenschläger
JJJJJerome Ellis: An unfinished calendar that commemorates slaves escaping their enslavers, 1673–1886. Secession 2026. Photo by Oliver Ottenschläger
JJJJJerome Ellis: An unfinished calendar that commemorates slaves escaping their enslavers, 1673–1886. Installation view, Secession 2026. Photo by Oliver Ottenschläger
- 1
JJJJJerome Ellis, Aster of Ceremonies, Milkweed Editions, Minneapolis, 2023, p.3.
- 2
JJJJJerome Ellis: The Clearing: Music, Dysfluency, Blackness, and Time
- 3
W.E.B. Du Bois, The Souls of Black Folk, Oxford University Press, Oxford, New York, 2007.
- 4
Charshee Charlotte Lawrence-M: The Double Meanings of the Spirituals
- 5
Ibid.
- 6
Christine Sun Kim in a conversation with JJJJJerome Ellis published in the catalogue accompanying the exhibition, p.95.
- 7
Ibid.
- 8
JJJJJerome Ellis, Aster of Ceremonies, Milkweed Editions, Minneapolis, 2023, p.2.
- 9
Listen here
- 10
- 11
Ibid.
- 12
Ibid.
- 13
Ibid.
- 14
Ibid.
- 15
Ibid.
- 16
Ibid.
- 17
JJJJJerome Ellis, Aster of Ceremonies, Milkweed Editions, Minneapolis, 2023, p.3.
- 18
Ibid.
- 19
JJJJJerome in a phone call after the opening.
- 20
JJJJJerome in a phone call after the opening.
- 21
JJJJJerome Ellis: The Clearing: Music, Dysfluency, Blackness, and Time