LOUISVILLE, Ky. — This month, aboard the Belle of Louisville, passengers can take part in an immersive excursion called “Journeys to Freedom: (Un)Known Project River Cruise.”  

The river cruise project is commissioned by the arts and culture nonprofit IDEAS xLab, and was written and directed by Sidney Monroe Williams. 

“You are inserted into the lives of two families of enslaved people seeking to escape, freedom by boat and there are a lot of different interactive components,” explained Josh Miller, a co-lead artist of the (Un)Known Project, alongside Hannah Drake. “Kentucky was a slave state, Indiana was a freed state, so 1,000 or more people sought to cross the Ohio every year to seek freedom.”

The (Un)Known Project creates experiences and art installations like “On the Banks of Freedom,” which was unveiled last year, to honor and tell the stories of Black enslaved people. 

“I just couldn’t imagine existing in the world and now being labeled as ‘Unknown,’” Drake said in June 2021. “I just wanted to find people that were enslaved in Kentucky.”

Miller said he hopes the river cruise project encourages others to have conversations about enslavement, history and the impact on Kentucky. 

“We’re inviting people through (Un)Known Project to share names, stories, information related to enslavement in Kentucky and beyond and to bring that forward and to contribute it,” he said. 

The final two cruises are set for June 22 and 23. 

They will also include card games, music, food and beverages for purchase and Black-owned businesses from MELANaire Marketplace.