This symposium originally premiered December 3 - 5, 2020, and we're back for a live rebroadcasting to continue the conversation.

The virtual forum, Race, Activism and Photography, examines recent societal injustices, systemic racism, and the continued underrepresentation in the art world through the lenses of art and activism. This three-day symposium, featuring panel-led roundtables, lectures, and artist presentations, will amplify the voices of artists, writers, and arts professionals, the majority of whom have participated in our residency program, WOODSTOCK AIR.

Race, Activism and Photography will address an array of issues including the history of photography through the prism of race, representation and identity, and activism, and examines how these topics have evolved from 1839 to the present; the economic and social impact of systemic racism, and how these inequities have been represented in the media; how artists, within the context of fine art, are using their work to address oppression and discrimination; and, finally, how artists are responding to the challenging and unique opportunities that lie ahead in the art world.

Schedule:

Friday, January 29, 2021, 6pm ET - 9pm ET: DAY 1

LECTURE: Emilie Boone, On Difference in Early Twentieth Century Photography: James Van Der Zee, Aaron Siskind, and the Black Subjects of Harlem

By considering two different photographs of Harlem street processions by Aaron Siskind and James Van Der Zee, art historian Emilie Boone explores the implications of insider/outsider distinctions as it pertains to representations of Black subjects.

SCREENING ROOM: Dionne Lee, A Use for Rope or String, single channel video

ARTIST PRESENTATION: Daesha Devón Harris, Tending Our Mothers’ Gardens (Lydia Bernard-Jones)

Artist and photographer Daesha Devón Harris discusses one of her recent works, Tending Our Mothers’ Gardens (Lydia Bernard-Jones), and how her two “subjects”—separated only by space and time—have been visually represented.

SCREENING ROOM: Nydia Blas: 2016 WOODSTOCK AIR, documentary video created during her residency at CPW

PANEL DISCUSSION: Seeing and Being Seen: How Contemporary Artists See Themselves

Moderator: Courtney Reid-Eaton. Panelists: Tarrah Krajnak, Annu Palakunnathu Matthew, Aaron Turner, Claire A. Warden

Selecting a 19th or 20th century photographic portrait for comparison, four artists discuss how they believe a contemporary image would compare and differ.

Saturday, January 30, 2020, 2pm ET - 5pm ET: DAY 2

SCREENING ROOM: Lorena Molina, Marking you/Marking me, single channel video

ARTIST PRESENTATION: Lorena Molina, Marking you/Marking me

Lorena Molina discusses her challenging video, Marking you/Marking me, and explores the complicated and co-dependent relationship between artists of color and art institutions.

LECTURE: Elizabeth Ferrer: Latinx Photography in the United States: A Visual History

Groundbreaking in its scope and presentation, Elizabeth Ferrer will discuss her new release, Latinx Photography in the United States, arguably the first photography book to showcase the exceptionally diverse photographic work of Latinx artists.

PANEL DISCUSSION: In Dialogue: A Conversation between Sophia Nahli Allison and Dannielle Bowman

Moderator: Chris Johnson. Panelists: Sophia Nahli Allison, Dannielle Bowman

A conversation between filmmaker Sophia Nahli Allison and visual artist Dannielle Bowman on what it means to be Black in Los Angeles, Allison’s poignant documentary film, A Love Song For Latasha, and What Had Happened, Bowman’s latest photographic series.

Sunday, January 31, 2020, 2pm ET - 5pm ET: DAY 3

SCREENING ROOM: Kris Graves, The Testament Project, Volume IV, single channel video

PANEL DISCUSSION: Rethinking the Movement: The Convergence of Art and Activism in the 21st Century

Moderator: Sama Alshaibi. Panelists: Mercedes Dorame, L. Kasimu Harris, Gabriel Garcia Román

How has the convergence of art and activism transformed since its founding in the 20th century, and how are artists currently using it as a protest or resistance against institutional and structural racism, art institutions, and law enforcement?

SCREENING ROOM: Suné Woods, WOODSTOCK AIR 2016, documentary video

Introduction for the Arnold Newman Lecture at Woodstock

KEYNOTE ADDRESS AND VISION AWARD: Carrie Mae Weems

CLOSING REMARKS: Miriam Romais

This forum was created with the direct support of the Arnold and Augusta Newman Foundation. Additional support for this event and Woodstock AIR was provided by the Joy of Giving Something Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the New York Council on the Arts.

The event launches the newly endowed Arnold Newman Lectures at Woodstock with a keynote address by Carrie Mae Weems.