OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA — August 6 — Pro Arts and AGENCY @ The LOOM are proud to present To Oakland with Love, an exhibition of artists working in textile and fiber art from across the U.S. organized by Pro Arts curator, Maymanah Farhat.
Opening Reception for the exhibition will take place on September 17, 2021 at 7pm at AGENCY @ The LOOM, 2150 Livingston Street, Oakland.
To Oakland with Love takes Paulo Freire’s idea that self-determination and liberation struggles are acts of love (Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 1968) as a starting point for exploring how artists are finding new ways to address urgent social and political issues. Writing on the necessity of liberation struggles, Freire argued that any fight against oppression could only be done through praxis, or the “reflection and action upon the world in order to transform it.” At the center of the exhibition are works that rely on the tactile nature and space-defining potential of textile and fiber art as a means of reclaiming and intervening in public space. Many of the included artists emphasize the often-overlooked experiences of communities, including systemic racism and classism, gender-based violence, and the difficulties of migration in works that address viewers with affirmations of belonging, survival, regeneration, and defiance.
The exhibition has been curated with Oakland in mind, taking inspiration from the strong tradition of praxis that has driven the city’s cultural scene for decades. At the same time, it aims to offer respite from the last year and a half of isolation, devastation, and enormous loss as a place of reflection, healing, and collectivity. To this end, some of the included works are whimsical, using color and found objects to signal joy and resilience, while other works use unconventional formalism to describe fragmented histories and the weight of ongoing struggles.
The exhibition will mark the inauguration of AGENCY @ The LOOM, a new multidisciplinary space in Oakland’s Jingletown arts district.
Featured artists: Daniel Drennan ElAwar, Melanie Griffin, Lahib Jaddo, Ian Jethmal, Dulce Soledad Ibarra, Suzanne Klotz, Adia Millet, Esteban Ramón Pérez, Don Porcella, Nadia Shihab, Akili Simba, Nailah Taman, and Christine Wong Yap.
AGENCY @ The LOOM is a newly established collective that creates and holds community-centered space for artistic and creative production and knowledge in Oakland, CA.
The LOOM is an urban village in Oakland, California, where tenants, visitors, artists and neighbors are all vital parts of a collective vision: creating a self-powered and regenerative community where how we live, work and play is intertwined.