“If there is one location in Harlem that represents the Harlem Renaissance and its myriad of connections of the past, present, and onward, it is the Cosmogram (pictured above). Designed by artist Houston Conwill, Rivers is a public art installation, dance floor and peace memorial in honor of Langston Hughes and Arturo A. Schomburg.
The Cosmogram is inspired by Hughes’ brilliant poem, The Negro Speaks of Rivers. Within the fish shape at the center of the circle, beneath the final words of the poem—’My soul has grown deep like the rivers,’—the poet’s cremains are interred in a stainless steel book-like vessel. The circle is an awesome and active trail, a continuing cycle of connections, in the lives of Schomburg, Hughes, and all others who come to the Schomburg Center. To those who believe there is simply too much bad mojo in the world, this circle holds the cure.”—Christopher P. Moore, Curator and Special Projects Coordinator, Schomburg Center.
To learn more about the Cosmogram and about the Center, join Christopher Moore on a guided tour on October 5, 2011.
