My work starts from the premise that slavery is process that is currently ongoing, and that Black voice is always (already) constrained by a white supremacist violence that hides its destruction behind liberal ideals such as progress, The Human, multiculturalism and more.
Poetry & the Senses Featured in DREAM Magazine By: Laurie Macfee, August 1, 2021 ARC is thrilled that our partnership with Engaging the Senses Foundation and our Poetry & the Senses initiative is a feature in California Arts Council’s premier new arts & culture magazine, DREAM! From CAC: The annual publication features voices and stories from across the state, […]
Look away for a prayer’s breath D’mani Thomas Yes, there is art that sits on canvas or the page but there is also art that sits on bodies. We know this because we feel. We feel because we want to live. And though it may seem at times an impossible task, it is one completely […]
You listened well – Ramona Naddaff to witness the miracle of your heart on the outside. – Ken Ueno I have never known myself any other way – reelaviolette botts-ward What does it feel like to stretch without longing? – Vethea Cerna Cole Fire makes a bad lover, the rumor goes – Sara Mumolo and […]
Terrance Hayes and Simone White in conversation with Chiyuma Elliott By: Menat Allah El Attma, April 12, 2021 “What would I do if this was a moment where somebody cared?” Dispelling how it is consumed in the market and media, art created by the Black community sets itself forth into view for that community first. […]
Poetry Reading featuring Mei-mei Berssenbrugge, Natalie Diaz, and Aja Monet By: Menat Allah El Attma, April 12, 2021 How does my body make room for another who perceives my senses? —Mei-Mei Berssenbrugge We begin with the body, no way around it. Our bodies form cohesion and, from that, shape. And it is how we write […]
Poetry reading with Safia Elhillo, Hieu Minh Nguyen, and Craig Santos Perez By: Menat Allah El Attma, April 12, 2021 “You are getting dressed. You stand in front of a mirror. And your peers are that mirror telling you: You’re not wearing pants.Why aren’t you wearing pants?” Hieu Minh Nguyen depicts the first draft, au […]
Danez Smith and Patricia Smith By: Lindsey Pannor, December 15, 2020 Danez Smith and Patricia Smith, who were meant to read together on campus this past March, graciously joined us online instead. This past December, they spent nearly a half an hour each reading their poetry for our virtual audience, and afterwards, spoke with one […]
Visual Activism: Ajuan Mance By: Lindsey Pannor, December 1, 2020 Ajuan Mance, a local artist and professor at Mills College, graced ARC with her virtual presence near the end of this past November. Her talk was focused on a project that she completed over the course of six years, from 2010 to 2016, called 1001 […]
Visual Activism: Histories of Dance By: Lindsey Pannor, November 15, 2020 In spite of the many moments lost to the global upheaval this year, the Arts Research Center made an attempt to virtually celebrate an exhibit that has yet to make its date. On November 12, our director Julia Bryan-Wilson was joined by her co-curator […]
