19/9/2008
Signs of Change
Exit Art, New York
Social Movement Cultures 1960s to Now, hundreds of posters, photographs, moving images, audio clips, and ephemera bring to life over forty years of activism, political protest, and campaigns for social justice. Curated by Dara Greenwald and Josh MacPhee as part of Exit Art's Curatorial Incubator, this important and timely exhibition surveys the creative work of dozens of international social movements.
In Signs of Change: Social Movement Cultures 1960s to Now, hundreds of posters, photographs, moving images, audio clips, and ephemera bring to life over forty years of activism, political protest, and campaigns for social justice. Curated by Dara Greenwald and Josh MacPhee as part of Exit Art's Curatorial Incubator, this important and timely exhibition surveys the creative work of dozens of international social movements.
Organized thematically, the exhibition presents the creative outpourings of social movements, such as those for Civil Rights and Black Power in the United States; democracy in China; anti-apartheid in Africa; squatting in Europe; environmental activism and women's rights internationally; and the global AIDS crisis, as well as uprisings and protests, such as those for indigenous control of lands; against airport construction in Japan; and student and worker revolution in France. The exhibition also explores the development of powerful counter-cultures that evolve beyond traditional politics and create distinct aesthetics, life-styles, and social organization.
Although histories of political groups and counter-cultures have been written, and political and activist shows have been held, this exhibition is a groundbreaking attempt to chronicle the artistic and cultural production of these movements. Signs of Change offers a chance to see relatively unknown or rarely seen works, and is intended to not only provide a historical framework for contemporary activism, but also to serve as an inspiration for the present and the future.
During the exhibition, there will be ongoing screenprinting workshops with guest artists and activists in collaboration with the Lower East Side Printshop as well as the following programs and events.
CURATORS
Curated by Dara Greenwald and Josh MacPhee as part of Exit Art’s Curatorial Incubator. Curatorial Incubator Director: Mary Anne Staniszewski
Dara Greenwald is a media artist and PhD Candidate in the Electronic Art Department at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Her collaborative work often takes the form of video, writing, and cultural organizing around themes of social movements. She worked at the Video Data Bank from 1998-2005 and taught DIY exhibition at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago 2003-2005.
Josh MacPhee is an artist, curator and activist currently living in Brooklyn, New York. His work often revolves around themes of radical politics, privatization and public space. His most recent book is Reproduce & Revolt/Reproduce Y Rebélate (Soft Skull Press, 2008, co-edited with Favianna Rodriguez). He also organizes the Celebrate People's History Poster Series and is part of the political art cooperative Justseeds.
LENDERS
All Of Us Or None (AOUON) Archive; American Friends' Service Committee; Archivo Arnulfo Aquino; Athénée Français Cultural Center; Autonomedia; Beehive Design Collective; Benton Gallery at University of Connecticut; Big Noise Films; Fabrizio Billi/Archivio Storico della Nuova Sinistra Marco Pezzi; Boston Women's Video Collective; Boyd; Bread & Puppet Theatre; Breakdown Press; Bristle Magazine; Bullfrog Films; Kevin Caplicki; Center for the Study of Political Graphics (CSPG); Chiapas Media Project; CIRA (Japan); Tony Credland/Cactus Network; Cultureshop.org; Lincoln Cushing; Chicago Women's Liberation Union Herstory Project; Tano D'Amico; Mariarosa Dalla Costa; Deep Dish TV; Jesse Drew; El Fantasma de Heredia; Tracy Fitz; Freedom Archives; William Gambetta/Centro Studi Movimenti; David Goodman; HKS 13; Ilka Hartmann; Chris Hill and Bob Devine; Hoover Institution Archives; R. Howze; Roger Hutchinson; Ilaria La Fata/Centro Studi Movimenti; illcommonz; International Inst itute for Social History (IISH); image-shift berlin; Indymedia Brazil; Inkworks; Institute for Applied Autonomy; Interference Archive; Iraq Veterans Against the War; Irregular Rhythm Asylum; It's All Lies; Magdalena Jitrik; John Jordan; Kartemquin Film Collective; Judi Kelemen; Last Gasp; John Law; Jessica Lawless; Lesbian Herstory Educational Foundation, Inc.; The Linen Hall Library; Raphael Lyon; Matthew Meyers; Marcom Projects; Middle East Division of Harvard's Weiner Library; National Gallery of Australia, Parkes Place; NATO Arts; Neue Slowenische Kunst (NSK); Katie Orlinsky; Political Art Documentation/Distribution (PAD/D) Archives at the Museum of Modern Art; Panopticon Gallery of Photography; Paper Tiger TV; Mary Patten; Roger Peet; Darko Pokorn; Jill Posener; Endi Poskovic; Radio Zapatista; Oliver Ressler and Zanny Begg; Bill Rolston; Rachael Romero; Sasha Roseneil; Roz Payne Archives; Leonel Sagahón; Rafel Seguí i Serres; Joel Sheesley; Greg Sholette; South African H istory Archive; Stanford University; David Tartakover; Third World Newsreel (www.twn.org); Eric Triantafillou; Undercurrents; Nils Vest; Video Data Bank; Videofreex Partnership; Yustoni Volunteero/Taring Padi Collective; Stacey Wakefield; Sue Williamson; Women's Library; Women Make Movies; and others. We sincerely apologize if we have neglected to include anyone on this list. As of press time, and to the best of our knowledge, this is a complete list.
COUNTRIES REPRESENTED
Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bosnia, Brazil, Myanmar (formerly Burma), Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic (formerly Czechoslovakia), Denmark, El Salvador, France, Germany, Greece, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Mozambique, Northern Ireland, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Palestine, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States and others.
WEEKLY SCREENING SERIES
(schedule and program is subject to change)
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday at 3:30pm
Friday and Saturday at 5:30pm
WEEK ONE: September 23 – 27
Newe Segobia is Not for Sale: The Struggle for Western Shoshone Land (1993)
The Land Belongs to Those Who Work It/La tierra es de quien la trabaja (2005)
To Walk Naked (1995)
Break and Enter (1970)
WEEK TWO: September 30 – October 4
Stronger than Before (1983)
Carry Greenham Home (1984)
WEEK THREE: October 7 – 11
Korea: Until Day Break (Excerpt from …will be televised) (1990)
Un Poquito de Tanta Verdad / A Little Bit of So Much Truth (2008)
WEEK FOUR: October 14 – 18
What the Fuck Are These Red Squares? (1970)
The Columbia University Divestment Struggle: Paper Tiger at
Mandela Hall (1985)
Standing with Palestine (2004)
WEEK FIVE: October 21– 25
Films TBA.
WEEK SIX: October 28 – November 1
Five Days for Peace (1973)
Indonesia: Art, Activism, Rock ‘n’ Roll (2002)
People’s Park (1969)
WEEK SEVEN: November 4 – 8
Excerpt from Lanesville Overview I 9 (1972)
Be a DIVA (1990)
I the Film (2006)
WEEK EIGHT: November 11 – 15
Films TBA.
WEEK NINE: November 18 – 22
A Very Big Train Called the Other Campaign/Un tren muy grande que se llama: La Otra Campaña
(2006)
Crowd Bites Wolf (2001)
Fourth World War (2003)
SIGNS OF CHANGE EVENTS
SATURDAY, September 20, 7-10pm: Opening Reception with live screen printing and ice cream from the Tactical Ice Cream Unit
TWO-PANEL SYMPOSIUM
THURSDAY, September 25: Signs of Change Symposium
6 pm: Producing and Distributing Social Movement Culture
Panelists include: Yustoni Volunteero/Taring Padi Collective (Indonesia), illcommonz (Japan), Favianna Rodriguez/Tumis Design (Oakland, CA) and others TBA. Moderated by Gregory Sholette, Assistant Professor Queens College Department of Art, Co-Founder PAD/D & REPOhistory/New York.
8 pm: Assessing the History and Future of Social Movement Culture: A Critical Analysis
Panelists include: Sasha Roseneil/Professor of Sociology and Social Theory, Director, Birkbeck Institute for Social Research, Birbeck, University of London (UK), Sandy Kaltenborn/image-shift berlin (Germany), Mary Patten/Artist & Professor, School of the Art Institute (Chicago), and others TBA. Moderated by Kazembe Balagun, Brecht Forum/blogger: blackmanwithalibrary.com (New York, NY).
COLUMBUS DAY WEEKEND
Saturday, OCTOBER 11 to Monday, OCTOBER 13:
Weekend of Screenings and Discussion, co-sponsored by 16beaver group. Curated in collaboration with Benj Gerdes and Paige Sarlin.
SATURDAY, October 11 at Exit Art, 475 10th Ave @ 36th Street
4 pm: Finally Got the News (1970, 16mm, League of Revolutionary Black Workers).
7:30 pm: Narita: The Peasants of the Second Fortress (Sanrizuka: Dainitoride no hitobito) (1971). In Japanese with English subtitles.
Introduced by Sabu Kohso, Japan-born writer and activist, and Barbara Hammer, filmmaker. Screening Co-sponsored by Asian/Pacific/American Institute and Tisch Department of Photography & Imaging at NYU in conjunction with The Uses of 1968: Legacies of Art and Activism Symposium and 1968: Then and Now Exhibition. $5 at the door
SUNDAY, October 12 at 16beaver group, 16 Beaver Street, Fourth Floor $5 – $10 donation
12 pm – 9 pm: Featuring Diva TV (1989); Queen Mother Moore Speech at Green Haven Prison (1971); Winter Soldier (1972); Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan (2008); Stronger Than Before (1983); Fourth World War (2003) and others TBA. Discussions to follow.
MONDAY, October 13 at 16beaver group, 16 Beaver Street, Fourth Floor $5 – $10 donation
12 pm – 9 pm: Featuring Happy Anniversary San Francisco, March 20-21 (2003); What the Fuck Are These Red Squares? (1970); U.S. Premiere of Five Days for Peace (1973); Crowd Bites Wolf (2001); A Very Big Train Called the Other Campaign (2006); U.S. Premiere of What Would It Mean to Win? (2008); Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance (1993); and others TBA. Discussions to follow.
For more information on the programs at 16Beaver, please visit http://www.16beavergroup.org or call 212-480-2093.
16beaver group is located at 16 Beaver Street, Fourth Floor, New York City.
PREMIERE SCREENING
FRIDAY, October 24, 6–8 pm: Premiere screening of newly subtitled short films and footage of the 1960s Dutch Provo movement, and book release of Richard Kempton’s Provo: Amsterdam’s Anarchist Revolt (in collaboration with Autonomedia Press).
SCREEN PRINTING WORKSHOPS
In collaboration with the Lower East Side Printshop the exhibition will feature ongoing screen printing workshops with guest artists and activists. Check http://www.exitart.org for schedule and participating artists.
ELECTION NIGHT AT EXIT ART Save the date November 4, 2008
SUPPORT
Signs of Change is supported by a major grant from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.
Additional support provided by the Museum program at the New York State Council on the Arts, a State agency, and the Starry Night Fund at The Tides Foundation.
Public programs are supported by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. Material support for the screen printing studio provided by the Lower East Side Printshop, New York. General exhibition support provided by Bloomberg LP; Carnegie Corporation; Jerome Foundation; Pollock-Krasner Foundation; Exit Art’s Board of Directors and our members. We gratefully acknowledge public funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, New York City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn and New York State Senator Thomas K. Duane.
Sponsoring partners of Signs of Change are The Center for the Study of Political Graphics (CSPG) in Los Angeles and the International Institute of Social History (IISH) in Amsterdam
Press contact:
Lauren Rosati - Assistant Curator 212 9667745 ext. 15 or lauren@exitart.org
Opening: Saturday September 20, 7-10pm
Exit Art is located at 475 Tenth Avenue, corner of 36th Street New York
open each Tuesday through Thursday, 10 am – 6 pm; Friday, 10 am – 8 pm; Saturday, noon – 8 pm. Closed Sunday and Monday
There is a suggested donation of $5