Bobst Library, New York University
70 Washington Square S
New York, NY
On view permanently starting October 2025
ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
The River That Flows Both Ways showcases a series of compelling and contemplative ceramic works by visual artist Jacqueline Bishop in her pursuit of commemorating the buried, interlinked histories of the Lenape lands on which most of NYUâs New York campus is located.
Featuring archival collage digitally printed on six porcelain plates, The River That Flows Both Ways illuminates the early encounters of African enslaved laborers brought into Indigenous communities by European settlers during the 1600s. These complex interactions and intricate trade routes are juxtaposed with architectural landmarks alongside the flora and fauna native to New York.
The River That Flows Both Ways (The Island of Many Hills)
2025
Pickard China chargers with digital transfers of original collage imagery by Jacqueline Bishop, fabricated by Kala Stein Studio
12âł.
MEDIA
NYU-TV
November 25th, 2025
Destinee Fillmore speaks with artist Jacqueline Bishop about her practice and her ceramic work, The River That Flows Both Ways, now a permanent exhibition on NYU Bobst Library’s 10th floor.
PAST PROGRAMMING
Exhibition Opening and Artist Conversation: The River That Flows Both Ways | In-Person
- Date: Tuesday, October 14, 2025
- Time: 6:00pm – 8:00pm
- Time Zone: Eastern Time – US & Canada (change)
- Location: Bobst Library, 10th Floor, North Reading Room
Join NYU artist and professor Jacqueline Bishop for the opening of The River That Flows Both Ways at Bobst Library
Join NYU Libraries and the School of Liberal Studies in celebrating the opening of The River That Flows Both Ways, a commissioned installation by artist and professor Jacqueline Bishop. The event will feature a conversation between the artist and Destinee Filmore from The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Jacqueline Bishop is a Jamaican-born writer, visual artist, scholar, and Clinical Full Professor of Liberal Studies at NYU. Her art renders marginalized voices visible across the African diaspora, and spans mediums including porcelain, collage, painting, and textiles.
Destinee Filmore is a curator, art historian, and cultural preservationist. Her research focuses on expansive histories of the visual and material culture of the United States and broader Atlantic World. She is the founder of On This Landâan interdisciplinary project that identifies, documents, and saves sites of historical importance.
Doors open at 6:00 p.m. and a conversation with the artist will begin at 6:30. This event is co-sponsored by NYU Liberal Studies and NYU Libraries.
This event has now passed.
Jacqueline Bishop is an accomplished writer, academic, and visual artist with exhibitions in Belgium, Morocco, Italy, Cape Verde, Niger, USA, and Jamaica. In addition to her role as Clinical Full Professor at New York University, Jacqueline Bishop was a 2020 Dora Maar/Brown Foundation Fellow in France; 2008-2009 Fulbright Fellow in Morocco; and 2009-2010 UNESCO/Fulbright Fellow in Paris. Bishop has received several awards, including the OCM Bocas Award for her book âThe Gymnast & Other Positionâ, The Canute A. Brodhurst Prize for short story writing, The Arthur Schomburg Award for Excellence in the Humanities from New York University, A James Michener Creative Writing Fellowship, as well as several awards from the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission. Jacquelineâs recent ceramicâŻwork consists of brightly colored bone China plates used symbolically in Caribbean homes and explores how they hid the violent legacy of slavery and colonialism in the Atlantic world.
