To Oakland with Love, an exhibition of textile and fiber art

2150 Livingston Street,Oakland CA 94606

17 September, 2021

Description

To Oakland with Love, an exhibition of textile and fiber art curated by Maymanah Farhat Pro Arts Gallery & Commons and AGENCY are proud to present: To Oakland with Love, an exhibition of textile and fiber art curated by Maymanah Farhat Opening: Friday, September 17, 2021 at 7pm Proof of vaccination, masks, and social distancing required. To Oakland with Love takes Paulo Freire’s idea that self-determination and liberation struggles are acts of love (Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 1968) as a starting point for exploring how artists are finding new ways to address urgent social and political issues. Writing on the necessity of liberation struggles, Freire argued that any fight against oppression could only be done through praxis, or the “reflection and action upon the world in order to transform it.” At the center of the exhibition are works that rely on the tactile nature and space-defining potential of textile and fiber art as a means of reclaiming and intervening in public space. Many of the included artists emphasize the often-overlooked experiences of communities, including systemic racism and classism, gender-based violence, and the difficulties of migration in works that address viewers with affirmations of belonging, survival, regeneration, and defiance. The exhibition has been curated with Oakland in mind, taking inspiration from the strong tradition of praxis that has driven the city’s cultural scene for decades. At the same time, it aims to offer respite from the last year and a half of isolation, devastation, and enormous loss as a place of reflection, healing, and collectivity. To this end, some of the included works are whimsical, using color and found objects to signal joy and resilience, while other works use unconventional formalism to describe fragmented histories and the weight of ongoing struggles. The exhibition will mark the inauguration of The Loom, a new multidisciplinary space in Oakland’s Jingletown arts district where tenants, visitors, artists, and neighbors are all part of a collective vision toward creating a self-powered, regenerative community where life, work, and play are intertwined. Also included in the exhibition is video documentation and sound installation of Marshall Trammell’s recent site-tuning event of the internal architecture of the space, Ebonics Native Land Acknowledgement #1 (ENLA #1), which aims to create a platform for new interpretations of the ethos of native land acknowledgements. Featured artists: Daniel Drennan ElAwar, Melanie Griffin, Lahib Jaddo, Ian Jethmal, Dulce Soledad Ibarra, Suzanne Klotz, Adia Millet, Esteban Ramón Pérez, Don Porcella, Akili Simba, Nailah Taman, Marshall Trammell/Music Research Strategies, Binta Ayofemi, and Christine Wong Yap. Pro Arts Gallery & COMMONS is a space for art, debate, experimentation, and collaboration. We are a multi-use space in downtown Oakland, California that houses exhibitions, symposiums, debates, music events, film screenings, literary events, residencies and publications. We are also a global networked community that shares values, as well as material and immaterial resources in the co-creation of ideas and critical engagements with the world. Both on local and global level, we are communizing the practice, production and presentation of art.   Pro Arts began in Oakland in May, 1974 under the name Alameda County Neighborhood Arts Program. An offshoot of the Arts Commission, the Alameda County Neighborhood Arts Program was funded through the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA)  program and soon after its founding, became a national model for utilizing CETA funds for artists and arts projects. CETA was a federal jobs program that, like the Works Progress Administration (WPA) before it, funneled hundreds of millions of dollars to visual and performing artists. But unlike the WPA, CETA was decentralized; from 1974 to 1981 it was administered by local city and county agencies all over the country.On January 30th of 1981, The Alameda County Neighborhood Arts Program became Pro Arts, after it filled for a change of name. Located at 550 2nd Street in Oakland, the organization continued in its original mission, expanding it to include an exhibition space with a general emphasis on programs and services in support of the visual art field. With its roots in the “alternative arts organization” movement of the 1970s, Pro Arts is still going strong today, serving as the primary venue for experimental, independent visual artists and culture in Oakland. Pro Arts is a 501 (c) (3) charitable organization. Our operations and programs are made possible with funding, provided by numerous foundations, corporate partners and individual donors. All donations to Pro Arts are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law. Our EIN # is 94-2259269.