Based in Los Angeles, the Morning Star Research Center for the Afterlife of Slavery (MSRCAS) is a California-incorporated 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. The center functions as an archival resource, reading room, and viewing space dedicated to the assembly, analysis, and exhibition of works addressing the enduring impact of Atlantic slavery and antiblackness globally. By maintaining a diverse collection of historical and contemporary materials, MSRCAS facilitates interdisciplinary dialogue at the nexus of contemporary art and Black studies. Its mission supports public programming, curatorial exploration, and theoretical research aimed at deepening the collective understanding of the legacies of slavery.


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1115 E Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, California, USA 90021

Our physical location is coming in 2026!







Programming






Upcoming Stay tuned!


Past
Grand Opening for the physical location is June 28th, 2026 from 6pm-9pm!

Address: 1115 E Pico Blvd, Los Angeles CA, 90042



Corrosive Sublimation: Art & Ab-sense
, Session VI: Black Art & N’est Pas

Saturday, May 16 2026
12 pm EST

Facilitated by Dylan Lackey



Corrosive Sublimation: Art & Ab-sense, Session V: Queer Desublimation and Trans Anarchitecture

Saturday, April 25 2026
12 pm EST

Facilitated by Dylan Lackey
Guest Speakers: Lee Edelman and Jack Halberstam



Corrosive Sublimation: Art & Ab-sense, Session IV: Ab-sens, Lalangue, Pas-Tout: Art and (Self-)Ruin

Saturday, March 28 2026
12 pm EST

Facilitated by Dylan Lackey
Guest Speakers: Fred Moten and Éric Alliez



Corrosive Sublimation: Art & Ab-sense, Session III: Masochism Beyond Sublimation

Saturday, March 14 2026
12 pm EST

Facilitated by Dylan Lackey
Corrosive Sublimation: Art & Ab-sense, Session II (b): Use of Symptoms

March 6 2026
1 pm EST

Facilitated by Dylan Lackey
Guest Speakers: Luke Thurston, Ann Pellegrini, Avgi Saketopoulou

Link to Session Recordings

Corrosive Sublimation: Art & Ab-sense, Session II (a): Use of Symptoms

Saturday, February 28 2026
12 pm EST

Facilitated by Dylan Lackey

Guest Speakers: Derek Hook, Marcus Coelen, and Jamieson Webster

Link to Session Recordings

Corrosive Sublimation: Art & Ab-sense, Session I: A Psychoanalytic Introduction to the Artist

Saturday January 31 2026
12pm EST

Facilitated by Dylan Lackey

Link to recording


Latent Space
An open conversation led by Boz Garden on the occasion of Coleman Collins’ exhibition at Ehrlich Steinberg

Wednesday October 29 2025 
5:30pm

Location: 5540 Santa Monica Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90038

The accompanying texts can be found here:
Frantz Fanon, Black Skin White Masks, 1952
Teju Cole, Tremor, 2023



Book Talk for Patrice D. Douglass’s Engendering Blackness: Slavery and the Ontology of Sexual Violence; joined by Ebony Oldham and Jordan Mulkey

September 21st, 2025

Location: Zoom

Link to Recording







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Thanks for booking an appointment at MSRCAS! In its nascency, the Research Center's archival collection is still growing but we have a substantial library, two desktop stations and free wifi to facilitate a variety of research and production interests.

Need a space to work on your homework? Make some progress on your dissertation? Or interested in consulting us for an upcoming project (whether academic, curatorial, or artistic)? We're happy to be a resource! If you are interested in dropping off ephemera, submit a proposal here.