(under)REPRESENT(ed)-Parsons exhibit
(under)REPRESENT(ed)– got some artwork in this show yall. If you’re in NYC go check it out. Shout out to Nadia, Duncan, Raquel, and Yelaine!
under)REPRESENT(ed) is an exhibition that features Parsons School of Design alumni of color whose creative practices explore the lived experience of race and aim to dismantle systems of racism. Initiated and organized by a collective of alumni of color, this exhibition features a range of disciplines which simultaneously address and resist the systemic exclusion that prevails in educational and professional institutions and practices.
A video from a digital and physical archive that affirms the future of people of African descent; a design research project lessens the impact of hurricane season on one alum’s hometown in the Dominican Republic; a children’s book fable reveals an allegory of the dangerous journey migrants often face to enter the United States; an online syllabus resource explores the intersections of fashion and race; photographs reflect on the historic status symbol and power of hair in Korean culture, which resonates in communities across the globe; and a multimedia project promotes citizen journalism and challenges the normalization of police violence.
“We are moved by an urgency to foreground the power generated by creative practices,” said the curators of the exhibition. “Our own experience as students, practicing artists, designers, educators and cultural organizers tells us that this work isn’t always given its due criticism or celebration in the classroom and other institutional spaces.”
People of color have been pioneers in fields of art and design, although they continue to be significantly underrepresented in positions of power and compensation. Despite the rich foundational contributions by Black, Latinx, Asian, and Indigenous communities to these industries, they are often rendered invisible. The curators of this exhibition stake a claim for the centrality of those most deeply impacted by these oppressive frameworks in an era which challenges our existing tools of resistance.
The (under)REPRESENT(ed) driving committee: Havanna Fisher | Scherezade García | Joelle Riffle | Yelaine Rodríguez | Sable Elyse Smith | Nadia Williams (under)REPRESENT(ed) equity + social justice advisor: Gail Drakes (under)REPRESENT(ed) research assistants: Barbara Byrd & Claudine Brantley Exhibition open to the public: October 14 -29, 2017 Public Opening Event: October 17, 2017 | Public Closing Event: October 27, 2017 Sheila C. Johnson Design Center, Arnold and Sheila Aronson Galleries | Parsons School of Design at The New School 66 Fifth Ave, New York, NY 10011
