Isa Cruz

When visitors walk into Bowdoin’s Hawthorne-Longfellow library, they are greeted by a shelf housing the Student Voices Collection, an annual opportunity for a student to curate an exhibition on identity.

This year’s show, curated by Kanene Nwokeji ’26, marks the Student Voices Collection’s sixth exhibition, started by Humanities and Media Librarian Carmen Greenlee. Opening last Friday to a crowd of supporters, the exhibition, titled “Multiracialism,” is an exploration of mixed-race identity.

Nwokeji connected with the library after participating in a series of live poetry performances held there last year.

“I was invited to read by King Weatherspoon ’25 to celebrate Poetry Month, and I read a poem called ‘Miscegenation’ that I wrote about my family, about my mixed-race family, and through that, I became more involved in the library than I was before,” Nwokeji said.

Nwokeji explained how a meeting with Greenlee sparked her interest in creating an exhibit.

“I met [Greenlee], and she was like, ‘We have this annual curation that a student does on a topic of identity, would you want to do it this year?’ Nwokeji said. “[It] was really cool that I could be responsible for looking through all these, books, poems, movies, novels and memoirs, finding connecting threads in them.”

The creative process, paired with the chance to explore her identity as a mixed-race person after having helped restart Bowdoin’s Multiracial Student Union, compelled Nwokeji to curate.

“I was most excited for the project, for that sort of creative pursuit, and then to really dive into something that I think a lot about, because I am mixed race, and it’s a big part of my life. And now I can really look into it in a more formal way and read a lot on it and see a lot of what the academic writing on it is.… It’s meaningful for me. It’s creative,” she said.

Her experiences at Bowdoin have played a crucial role in shaping her curatorial perspective.

“Bowdoin does have a very mixed-race, multicultural, multiracial community that isn’t as often found off campus or isn’t as clear in places I’ve been in before that are not Bowdoin,” she said.

As students reflect on Nwokeji’s show, she hopes they consider the diversity that surrounds them with care and curiosity.

“I feel like the takeaway is to always think about how other people’s lives are different from your life in real life and what other people can learn from you and what you can learn from them,” Nwokeji said. “This is something that is worth learning about or appreciating or involving yourself in even if you didn’t know about it before. It’s not descriptive of your identity. I hope the legacy will be of interaction with literature, culture and community.”

For Greenlee, working with students brings fresh perspectives to the library.

“My colleagues and I love this because of the perspective we get working with students.… That’s really the most exciting thing, because you can think you know your collection,… yet [an exhibit] like this sparks new knowledge. That’s what I really appreciate every day about working with students.… There’s so much to discover here, and we’re all about discovery,” Greenlee said.

Nwokeji’s genuine joy and inquisitive nature struck Greenlee as they worked together. Working with students is central to Greenlee’s goals as a librarian, as the process brings new knowledge and objects to the library’s collections.

“[Nwokeji] was … so excited to discover things that she didn’t even know existed here in the library.… For example, the African-American cookbook, that new cookbook, she was so excited to see that, and that’s what I like, is to see how excited, in every case, these students get about discovering and acquiring new things, because they’re adding to this community of knowledge that we build here. That’s what we do on this campus.”

Visitors can explore multiracial identity through cookbooks, films and poetry selected by Nwokeji. However, for her, independent exploration is key.

“People have been asking me a lot,… ‘What should I go and look into?’ Maybe just explore. Maybe just poke through and see what would interest you,” Nwokeji said.