BROOKLYN STREET ART LOVES YOU MORE EVERY DAYSIGNS OF CHANGE
Social Movement Cultures 1960s to Now
Guest curated by Dara Greenwald + Josh MacPhee
Jan. 23 – March 8, 2009
ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
PITTSBURGH — In Signs of Change: Social Movement Cultures 1960s to Now, hundreds of posters, photographs, moving images, audio clips, and ephemera bring to life over forty years of activism, political protest, and campaigns for social justice. Curated by Dara Greenwald and Josh MacPhee, this important and timely exhibition surveys the creative work of dozens of international social movements.
Signs of Change presents the creative outpourings of social movements, such as those for civil rights and black power in the United States; democracy in China; anti-apartheid in Africa; squatting in Europe; environmental activism and women’s rights internationally; and the global AIDS crisis, as well as uprisings and protests, such as those for indigenous control of lands; against airport construction in Japan; and for radical social transformation in France. The exhibition also explores the development of powerful counter-cultures that evolve beyond traditional politics and create distinct aesthetics, life-styles, and social organizations.
Although histories of political groups and counter-cultures have been written, and political and activist shows have been held, this exhibition is a groundbreaking attempt to chronicle the artistic and cultural production of these movements. Signs of Change offers a chance to see relatively unknown or rarely seen works, and is intended to not only provide a historical framework for contemporary activism, but also to serve as an inspiration for the present and the future.
COUNTRIES REPRESENTED
Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bosnia, Brazil, Burma, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo, Croatia, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Northern Ireland, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Palestine, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States.
Online Now: LabA6 Podcast Interview
Curators Dara Greenwald, Josh MacPhee and Miller Gallery director Astria Suparak discuss the “Signs of Change” exhibition and the history of social movements on Carnegie Mellon’s College of Fine Arts podcast program LabA6.
ABOUT THE CURATORS
Dara Greenwald is a media artist and PhD Candidate in the Electronic Art Department at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Her collaborative work often takes the form of video, writing, and cultural organizing. She worked at the Video Data Bank from 1998-2005 and taught DIY exhibition at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago 2003-2005. www.daragreenwald.com
Josh MacPhee is an artist, curator and activist currently living in Brooklyn, New York. His work often revolves around themes of radical politics, privatization and public space. His most recent book is Reproduce & Revolt/Reproduce Y Rebélate (Soft Skull Press, 2008, co-edited with Favianna Rodriguez). He also organizes the Celebrate People’s History Poster Series and is part of the political art cooperative Justseeds.org.
