The Bap-Tizum Black Gospel Archive built by Detroit artist, composer and essayist, Ben Hall, is one of the largest collections of Black and African American sermons, hymns and songs. 

In 2019, a fire burned Hall’s home, destroying items, yet as if a miracle, a few gospel records survived. 

Choir: The Theology of Preservation through sermons and songs from the Bap-Tizum Black Gospel Archive is an exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit.

Each Wednesday through Dec. 16 from noon to 2 p.m., Hall plays records from the collection. The sessions take place inside the Mike Kelley Homestead at MOCAD. 

Hall is a 2014 Kresge Artist Fellow, co-director of Catalytic Sound Collective, an experimental music streaming platform. And he’s currently working on the book called "A Black Liberation Music Guide."

He joined The Metro to talk more about the exhibition and music as a portal to the past.