How has art been used to protest, process, mourn, and memorialize anti-Black violence within the United States?

Originating at Northwestern University’s Block Museum of Art, A Site of Struggle explores how artists have engaged with the reality of anti-Black violence and its accompanying challenges of representation in the United States over a 100 + year period.

In this piece, artists Mendi + Keith Obadike sonify data from Ida B. Wells' 1895 publication, The Red Record: Tabulated Statistics and Alleged Causes of Lynching in the United States, with chants and sounds generated from the dates of lynching contained in Wells' text. This is the second work in Mendi + Keith's Number Series (2015-present), a series of performances and sound installations that use numerical databases of violence (police harassment, lynchings statistics, and slave ship manifests) to generate sonic information.

http://blacksoundart.com/

Visitors are invited to view A Site of Struggle: American Art Against Anti-Black Violence before or after the performance of Numbers Station 2 [Red Record] by Mendi + Keith Obadike, and the Opening Conversation. The Block Museum will be open from 12-5pm CST.

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Please join on directly after the performance for

Opening Conversation: A Site of Struggle: American Art against Anti-Black Violence

2PM, RSVP

Opening speakers include Courtney R. Baker, scholar of Black literary and visual cultures; Dino Robinson, founder of Shorefront Legacy Center in Evanston; and Carl and Karen Pope, exhibition artists. They will be joined in conversation by Janet Dees, Steven and Lisa Munster Tananbaum Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art and curator of A Site of Struggle. Robin R. Means Coleman, Vice President and Associate Provost for Diversity and Inclusion; and Natasha Trethewey, Board of Trustees Professor of English at Northwestern University and former United States Poet Laureate, will provide opening and closing remarks.

COVID-19 Safety Acknowledgement and Protocols: Louis Theater

This event is held next door to the Block Museum at the Josephine Louis Theater, Wirtz Center. Northwestern is closely monitoring developments related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and will follow local, state, and University guidelines for this event. The Wirtz Center requires all visitors to show proof of vaccination or proof of a negative COVID test within 48 hours of the event start to attend, as well as comply with all other University safety protocols that are in place at the time of the event.

An original vaccination card, a printed copy of a valid vaccination card, or a negative test result (antigen/rapid or PCR) will be accepted. Antibody tests will not be accepted. Home self-tests without third-party validation are not permitted.
Documentation may also be presented in digital forms, such as a screenshot or photo on the phone.
For any vaccine documentation (printed copy, phone screenshot, etc.), the entire front of the vaccination card or test result must be visible, or it will not be accepted.

Indoor masking is required, regardless of vaccination status. Participants unwilling or unable to abide by these requirements should not attend. Additional information on health and safety protocols at the Wirtz Center can be found here: https://wirtz.northwestern.edu/health-and-safety-faqs/

Opening Performance: Mendi + Keith Obadike – Numbers Station 2 [Red Record]