Out of the Shadows: Undocumented and Unafraid is a participatory art project, conceived and orchestrated by artist Annabel Manning. Immigrant youth from Charlotte and the Triangle area of North Carolina collaborated with Manning to create portraits, which were then digitally altered to portray the youth's visible and invisible status simultaneously. Compelling and personal, the pieces featured in the exhibit demonstrate how art can be a deliberative and imaginative forum for exploring complex issues about immigrant labor, education, and legal status.
Please meet activist and artist, "Touchdown"
Does the concept of being both visible and invisible relate to your experience, and if so, how?
Yes. I participate in this society as any other regular person but then there are moments that always remind you that you are not quite the regular person…that there is something missing and that it will limit you. Traditionally, before growing to questioning the immigration system and all that benefit from its lack of working, I understood that not having legal status must be kept secret or invisible as much as possible. Every day was about negotiating identity in a home that is not “your own.” Even today with all the empowerment that has come from being involved in the immigrant youth rights movement, it is still difficult to branch out outside of social justice circles and be fully visible. You don’t know how people will react…to a certain point one may not care but the fact is that the system in which daily life functions with things such as employment, you must be kept invisible or at least the full you and your identity must not be known. At the end of the day it is still a liability upon which many things depend on.
When did you first become aware of your circumstance of being undocumented? What is it like to be undocumented?
I became aware of this status upon crossing the border by foot with my family. Additionally, it became evident that I was different when I was in school K-12th grade. I was very aware of this immigration status because everything was pointing in the direction of hiding it or making it invisible and just faking it but as youth sometimes that is the last thing you are willing to do. I did not want to participate in a mock presidential election at my elementary school because I had to vote and I knew then that was not allowed for someone like me who did not have a social security number. For me being undocumented became about learning how to negotiate my presence anywhere I went and often being very scared to open what I thought would be a Pandora's box type of situation. However, you learn that life has to continue and if you don’t go back to “your” country then you have to learn the ins and outs of living while being “illegal.” This encompasses everything from your friendships to your goals to the practical thing of getting fake social security numbers in order to get a job somewhere. That’s the truth. This country and its politicians push us to these fringes in which we have to make decisions for which results in either direction have you as the “illegal” losing out.
What is your dream for immigration reform?
I don’t dream about immigration reform…anymore. I just dream of an empowered community that comes to understand that with or without immigration reform we are worth it and must not live afraid. If there is no reform then I would hope that undocumented people would live life being unafraid and willing to risk it all in this country because the alternative means losing our dignity.
What does coming out of the shadows mean for you?
Coming out of the shadows for me means a process of healing. It does not necessarily get rid of the fear. Coming out of the shadows means you allow yourself to consider the possibilities of being deported or targeted and having a plan of action for that. It means breathing like you own yourself and your future instead of a nine digit number. It is only the beginning of a longer term process for liberation.
Out of the Shadows: Undocumented and Unafraid is on display now through June 29, 2014.
Tell us below what does activism mean to you.
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The Story Behind the Exhibit
Faces of Freedom Summer, an exhibit featuring 102 photographs taken by Herbert Randall in Hattiesburg, Miss., opens this Saturday, February 22. These powerful images document the struggles and triumphs of Civil Rights activists and disenfranchised African-American voters during the summer of 1964.
That summer, students of all races and backgrounds, voting rights organizers, and a coalition of local black residents worked together to secure the rights for all Americans to vote in the South. Among them were three young civil rights workers, James Chaney, Michael Schwerner, and Andrew Goodman, who were murdered days after arriving to Mississippi.
Herbert Randall became the official photographer for the Freedom Summer project in 1964 when he met Sandy Leigh, director of Freedom Summer. Randall took 1,759 negatives that summer, which he donated to the University of Southern Mississippi in 1998. With the negatives carefully stored at the University's McCain Library and Archives, archivists began a project funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services called "Civil Rights in Mississippi Digital Archives" to preserve the images digitally.
Randall's photos were organized into an exhibit, which has traveled across the country since 1999. Faces of Freedom Summer will be on display from February 22 through August 17, as part of Destination Freedom: Civil Rights Struggles Then and Now.
Learn more about Faces of Freedom Summer here.
After viewing these poignant images tag us on Instagram and purchase your copy of "Faces of Freedom Summer" by Herbert Randall on Amazon.
What lessons can we learn from the participants of Freedom Summer to use for causes today?
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Through lectures, panel discussions, book signings, workshops, walking tours and more, Levine Museum offers a wide variety of fun, learning opportunities. The Museum provides historical context for contemporary issues, thoughtful community forums, and explorations of the sights, sounds and ideas of the Carolina Piedmont.
The Museum also supports and participates in various community programs throughout Charlotte and the Southeast. One of those is coming up in April at the Neighborhood Theatre in NoDa. We asked Eric Mullis of Triptych Collective to talk about the performance piece, “Poor Mouth,” here on our blog.
Do you see a familiar face?
I became interested in developing a performance piece about the history of NoDa after reading [Museum historian] Tom Hanchett's book, "Sorting out the New South City." The Triptych Collective is a group of performance artists interested in bringing a unique blend of live music, dance performance and visual art to non-traditional spaces in order to make thought-provoking performance art more widely accessible. The Triptych Collective calls the NoDa neighborhood home since we perform there regularly and local venues are so supportive of our work. I learned that the NoDa mill village was developed at the turn of the 20th century and became the home of mill workers who came to Charlotte from area farms. They found steady work and developed a close-knit community that worked and spent leisure time together. As the Great Depression drew near, mills across the Southern Piedmont began to "stretch-out" their employees, asking them to work longer hours and to run more looms without raising their pay (effectively ignoring the then, recently passed federal minimum-wage law). Mill workers were consequently presented with a difficult dilemma: do they strike for fair pay even though they may not be re-hired? Further, if they strike, will they be evicted from the company-owned mill houses that they lived in?
Poor Mouth is a performance art piece that strives to portray this history in order to honor the mill worker families that lived, worked, and died in the mill village. The work also asks viewers to consider how the history of NoDa affects our experience of the neighborhood today. Do we have an obligation to remember the mill worker families? How would that obligation shape our sense of NoDa as a place?
The piece includes live dance by the Triptych Collective, music by NoDa-based band Ancient Cities, and text by Dr. Tom Hanchett. Tom consulted the Collective about the history of the NoDa mill village and performed with the group in November of last year, in front of the abandoned Johnston mill and on December 12 at the Chop Shop in NoDa. This work was developed with the assistance of a Cultural Innovation grant provided by the John S. and James L. Knight foundation and the Arts and Science Council.
We invite folks to come check out the next performance on April 24 at 8pm at the Neighborhood Theatre in NoDa. Also, keep up with the development of our work on our Facebook page and on our website (triptychcollective.com).
Eric Mullis is a founding member of The Triptych Collective as well as musician, dancer and choreographer.
What community programs have you enjoyed?
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Out of the Shadows: Undocumented and Unafraid is a participatory art project, conceived and orchestrated by artist Annabel Manning. Immigrant youth from Charlotte and the Triangle area of North Carolina collaborated with Manning to create portraits, which were then digitally altered to portray the youth's visible and invisible status simultaneously. Compelling and personal, the pieces featured in the exhibit demonstrate how art can be a deliberative and imaginative forum for exploring complex issues about immigrant labor, education, and legal status.
Please meet artist and activist, Annabel Manning
What impact do you hope “Out of the Shadows” will have on the public?
I hope that the artwork in Out of the Shadows: Undocumented and Unafraid will show the public how it feels to be in this state of being invisible and without rights.
I am also interested in the complicity that all the documented (myself included) should feel for the predicament of the undocumented because we are partially responsible for it. I believe all U.S. citizens are complicit because we are benefiting from the work and culture of the Latinos and because, directly or indirectly, we help to make or keep them invisible. My hope is that the public will develop a sense of responsibility for this issue and fight for the rights that the undocumented youth deserve.
How has this Movement changed you?
The visibility in the general public in North Carolina that the student youth have attained thus far has inspired me to expand this project. The goal is to provide even more Latino undocumented youth (and their families) with art tools that allow them to express themselves visually and to engage the public in discussions or confrontations about the youth’s specific dreams and demands for immigration reform.
How did you choose the medium for your artwork?
The show includes photographs, sunprints, monoprints, and a digital installation (with camera, mirror and projection) – all reflecting the youth’s experiences of feeling invisible in their communities, outside their families and friends, separating them into two selves: how they see themselves versus how others see them. This theme emerged from my discussions with them and then we adopted the mediums to capture it in multiple ways.
What does activism mean to you?
To be able to create participatory art activities with communities like Immigrant Youth Forum (IYF) and United 4 the Dream (U4TD) to engage the public in discussions or confrontations about the youth’s dreams, fears, and demands regarding civil rights, education, labor, and citizenship.
Out of the Shadows: Undocumented and Unafraid is on display now through June 29, 2014.
Tell us below what does activism mean to you.
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View from the Other Side features local artists' response to the previous exhibit, Network of Mutuality: 50 Years Post-Birmingham. The artists created pieces working within the topic of Civil Rights struggles in our region. Both exhibits are a part of the Museum's two-year series, Destination Freedom: Civil Rights Struggles Then and Now. To bring further insights into the exhibit, we took the opportunity to ask the artists about their artwork, what in history inspired them to create it and what they hope guest gain from their art.
Next up: Antoine Williams, Local Artist and Designer
What part of history inspired your artwork?
When it comes to history, I'm interested in how human beings have interacted with one another. Therefore, points in time when one group exerts power over another and reaction that produces. More specifically, slavery up to Jim Crow and the civil rights movement, American military history, also the relationship between the ruling class and average people.
What do you hope guest experience when viewing your artwork?
Evoking any type of emotion is of particular interest to me. The view completes the piece. So, I hope they bring their own experiences to the work, coupled with what I've created maybe they can come to their own conclusions.
What roles does the community play in your art?
My work is a look at how socioeconomic factors can affect ones cultural identity, therefore, the art I'm creating is heavily influenced by the communities I grew up with and the ones I currently exist in now.
What other imagery/ stories do you explore within your work?
Lately, I've been interested in merging representations of contemporary people from various social strata with early 18th century animal illustrations, as a look into how we create monsters out of those we deem different than ourselves.
Learn more about Antoine on his Tumblr and website.
Come view Antoine and other's artwork in the View from the Other Side exhibit at the Levine Museum, on display through February 2, 2014.
Have you seen Antoine's artwork? Tell us what you think below.
Be sure to follow us on Twitter, tag us on Instagram and like us on Facebook.
View from the Other Side features local artists' response to the previous exhibit, Network of Mutuality: 50 Years Post-Birmingham. The artists created pieces working within the topic of Civil Rights struggles in our region. Both exhibits are a part of the Museum's two-year series, Destination Freedom: Civil Rights Struggles Then and Now. To bring further insights into the exhibit, we took the opportunity to ask the artists about their artwork, what in history inspired them to create it and what they hope guest gain from their art.
Next up: Rosalia Weiner, Local Artist and Founder of Project Art Aid
What part of history inspired your artwork?
My work is heavily influenced by current events. In my view, what is happening with immigrant rights, immigration reform, and the rise of Hispanic culture in America is historic.
What do you hope guest experience when viewing your artwork?
I hope that guest experience the vibrant colors of my Mexican culture, and I also hope that my work broadens their perception of immigration issues.
What role does the community play in your art?
The community plays a very important role in my work. My work is often based on their stories and experiences, and art is my tool for giving voice to the issues that are affecting us.
What other imagery/stories do you explore within your work?
I have also told love stories with my art. In a recent commission, I narrated the story of a couple and blended family, with images detailing the places where they were from, where they met, and distinct aspects of their personalities and style.
Come view Rosalia and other's artwork in the View from the Other Side exhibit at the Levine Museum, on display through February 2, 2014.
Tell us what you think of Rosalia's work in the comments below and share with your friends!
Be sure to follow us on Twitter, tag us on Instagram and like us on Facebook.
View from the Other Side features local artists' responses to the exhibit, Network of Mutuality: 50 Years Post-Birmingham. The artists submitted pieces related to the topic of Civil Rights struggles in our region. Both exhibits are presented as part of the Museum's two-year series, Destination Freedom: Civil Rights Struggles Then and Now. To bring deeper insights into the exhibit, we asked the artists to talk about their work and share what in history inspired them and what they hope guests gain from their art.
Next up: Mikale Kwiatkowski, Local Artist and UNC Charlotte School of Architecture Teaching Fellow
What part of history inspired your artwork?
Feminist theory from the 1970's to the present was the starting point for my research, and queer theory from the early 1990's to the present became an even more influential driver during my actual making process. In addition, artists like Rebecca Horn and Rachael Whiteread continue to be influential.
What do you hope guests experience when viewing your artwork?
Honestly, my greatest hope is that my piece will prompt new thought in viewers -- that people who have never before considered how they publicly perform identities like gender and sexuality might consider culturally constructed scripts that they have adopted as their own. I have no issue with conscious choices people make around these identities but I firmly believe many people unconsciously follow socially prescribed scripts instead of making choices from the stronger vantage point of awareness.
What role does the community play in your art?
Community, well it plays a big role I guess. Cultural ideology is embedded within communities. There is a lot to like about Charlotte, but the conservative nature of the city is its own obstacle for progressive growth. The effort that Levine Museum of the New South makes in bringing awareness to normalizing ideology is striking and extremely valuable in a community like Charlotte's.
What other imagery/ stories do you explore within your work?
For the time being, I am focused on creating experiential assemblages that attempt to disrupt or destabilize processes of normalization that exist in Western culture.
Come view Mikale and others' artwork in the View from the Other Side exhibit at Levine Museum, on display through February 2, 2014.
Be sure to follow us on Twitter, tag us on Instagram and like us on Facebook.
