Description:
Feminist font design by Dina Benbrahim.
Label Text:
From the exhibition We Are For Freedoms, February 16 - December 5, 2021
Artist's Statement:
2020 has been a year to endure. The times are dark with COVID, with systemic racism and economic injustice, and with ugly patterns of power grabbing at the highest levels of government. Nevertheless, I have been finding hope in people turning out and taking action; in the work of young Black people in my community who organized protests; in mutual aid groups that are caring for people in their communities; in the delightful and dramatic toppling of monuments and refusals of the status quo. So I wanted to make something hopeful and colorful and powerful. The words are a call to action, in the form of the imperative. Sometimes all we can do is endure, and I certainly had many days this year where I was simply trying to hold on. And that is enough at those times. But sometimes we can persist — we can be in movement towards freedom. And then, when we know we are loved and cared for, then we can rise up and shine. And I saw so much rising and shining in such a dark year. And I am grateful for that.
El año 2020 ha sido una prueba de resistencia. Fue una época ensombrecida por el COVID-19, el racismo sistémico, la injusticia económica y la tendencia repugnante a monopolizar el poder en los niveles más altos del gobierno. Sin embargo, fui encontrando esperanza en quienes se hicieron presentes y actuaron, en las personas jóvenes negras de mi comunidad que organizaron manifestaciones, en los grupos de ayuda mutua que cuidan a sus comunidades; en aquellos monumentos derribados de manera espectacular y dramática en rechazo al statu quo. Por eso, quise crear algo esperanzador, colorido y potente. Las palabras son un llamado a la acción de forma imperativa. A veces lo único que podemos hacer es aguantar y yo, sin duda, pasé muchos días este año aguantando. Y durante esos momentos, aguantar, resistir, es suficiente. Pero, a veces, podemos persistir, podemos caminar hacia la libertad. Y entonces, al saber que alguien nos quiere y cuida, podemos levantarnos y brillar. Y, durante un año oscuro, agradezco haber visto tanto brillo, tanta resistencia.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=UM+2020.12 |
