Sites of Passage
  • Process
  • Vision
  • Artists
  • Past Projects
    • Firefly Tunnels
    • Borders, Walls, & Citizenship
  • News
  • Support

Sites of Passage Official Press Release for May 25 Opening @ The Mattress Factory Museum!

2/16/2018

0 Comments

 
The following was copied from the original (PDF) press release provided by the Mattress Factory Museum:

​Mattress Factory Announces “Civil Rights and Civil Wrongs” Exhibition Featuring Artists from Pittsburgh and South Africa

PITTSBURGH, PA (February 5, 2018) – Seven artists have been chosen to create new work in Civil Rights and Civil Wrongs: South Africa and US, an exhibition opening at the Mattress Factory on May 25, 2018. Dr. Tavia La Follette is returning to collaborate with the museum on this exhibition, the latest in a series that brings American artists and artists from countries facing human rights crises together in a virtual – and actual – dialogue. Previous projects involved artists from Egypt in 2011, and from Israel and Palestine in 2013.

In Civil Rights and Civil Wrongs, four artists from South Africa work with three artists from Pittsburgh. Each artist confronts racial politics using different mediums, explains La Follette: “We have a sound artist who archives the world around him, a filmmaker who addresses gentrification, and a multimedia artist who brings together myth and futurism. We have a choreographer who considers himself a community developer, an outsider architect who engineers castles from forgotten debris, a painter and printmaker who captures uprisings in mining towns, and a formerly incarcerated drug dealer turned art teacher who is a role model to the children around him.”

The Mattress Factory welcomes four artists from South Africa.


  • Henry Albertus recycles rubbish from junkyards to create many-leveled sculptural castles echoing architecture from all over the world in Capricorn Township, a shantytown in the Cape Town region.
  • Asanda Kupa’s works in painting and printmaking speak directly to South Africa’s dramatic socio-economic inequalities, troubled political landscape and the atrocities of the mining industry.
  • Charlie Jansen is trained as a Community Art Facilitator and muralist and works at the Butterfly Project in Cape Town, serving low income families from pre-school to adulthood.
  • Mbovu Malinga is a performing artist, specializing in theater and dance, as well as a community activist who works with children in Cape Town and the surrounding rural areas.

Three Pittsburgh-based artists will show new work in the exhibition, which runs through July
29, 2018.


  • Alisha Wormsley uses photography, video, and sculpture to examine collective memories, the synchronicity of time, and racial identity and history.
  • Chris Ivey is a documentary filmmaker whose work challenges audiences to think more broadly and inclusively on issues like race, class, and gentrification.
  • Ricardo Iamuuri Robinson is a composer, field recordist, and audio-visual artist, whose work explores the relationship between sound, image, object, and place.

An opening reception will be held Friday, May 25 from 6 – 8pm at the museum’s 1414 Monterey Street gallery.

Admission for the event is free for all ages. 

500 Sampsonia Way • Pittsburgh, PA 15212 • T: 412.231.3169 • mattress.org

Generous support for Civil Rights and Civil Wrongs:
​

South Africa and US is provided by Advancing Black Arts in Pittsburgh, Allegheny Regional Asset District, an Anonymous Donor, the Benter Foundation, The Heinz Endowments, The Heinz Small Arts Initiative, National Endowment for the Arts, Opportunity Fund, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, The Pittsburgh Foundation, the Roy A. Hunt Foundation, and the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. 


With special thanks to the Mattress Factory Board of Directors and museum members.


About the Mattress Factory: Hailed as the best museum for installation art in the United States, the Mattress Factory invites visitors to experience “art you can get into.” Over the past 40 years, the Mattress Factory has presented and commissioned new installation and performance works by over 750 artists, both established and emerging, who have challenged themselves and their audiences through the support of the museum’s exceptional residency program. The Mattress Factory’s outreach programs serve more than 20,000 students, teachers, adults, and families annually, and its activities as a visitor attraction, educator and employer continue to invigorate Pittsburgh’s North Side. For more information, call 412.231.3169 or visit mattress.org.
0 Comments

"Sites of Passage" Defends Challenging Perspectives at The Mattress Factory Museum

9/15/2011

0 Comments

 
Picture
"Can you believe all of this extra security??" was one of the many initial reactions to the opening of Sites of Passage last Friday, Sept. 9, 2011. What many visitors did not realize (until later), was that the "security" was really made up of American artists posing as officers in collaboration with Sudanese artist Amado al Fadni's installation "Passport Agency".

The idea was to subject Americans to the absurdity of bureaucratic processing which is often the norm for citizens in the Middle East when trying to come to America. In the run-around, unknowing participants in this act filled out a questionnaire in order to obtain a faux passport, and then were quizzed by artist officers, like Larry Bogad, about their hopes, dreams, and fears in order to obtain an entry visa to the show. Depending on the answers, some passed through freely, while others were sent on to more stamping scrutiny.

"How long have you lived here?" asked artist officer Mark Staley.

"My whole life," answered the unsuspecting visitor.

"Wow, here in this museum?" Mark reprised as he put on a second pair of glasses to inspect the documentation. Others in line chuckled.

"I just want to get in and see the show," another applicant complained while being shuffled between stations. "You should really talk to each other more so you can iron out all of these kinks," she advised. 

Once visitors finally passed through the rush of Mad Libs, the stage opened up to explore over a dozen installations ranging from videos exploring nationalism, sound installations about unity, Arabic calligraphy, and some unique photography. To view some of the current work, visit our Online Gallery and click on each piece individually to leave comments.

With over 350 in attendance, a buzz of excitement spread thick through the halls of The Mattress Factory Museum's Annex building. Many of the American artists who participated in the Fayoum Workshop were busy sharing stories from their experience of living in a Revolutionary countryside for 3 weeks, while some Pittsburgh locals shared their interpretations of work with complete strangers over food and drink.
Besides the insidious greeting of "Passport Agency", one installation of high note became "Tahrir (squared)" by Emily Lychack. Featuring rocks from the actual square where the revolution took place, along with a full-round of blown up photos of protestors, the space took on the flavor of actually being in Tahrir as visitors crowded to merge into the scenery. It quickly transformed into a great place for visitors to share their memories of the not-so-distant media frenzy.

And this was the aim all along: to get people talking about global issues; sharing ideas about possibility; discussing the world we live in order to understand new vantage points.

"I am very pleased with how all of this turned out," noted Firefly Tunnels creator Tavia La Follette. "I mean, obviously there were some major issues with the Egyptians not being here right now, but look at how we managed!" she expressed, pointing to the slew of visitors publically engaged in internationally curated art.

Sites of Passage will run until January 8, 2012. For more information about upcoming programs and events, see our MAIN PAGE.
>> Photos from opening <<
0 Comments

Firefly Tunnels granted space at The Mattress Factory Museum!

12/1/2010

0 Comments

 
Picture
The Mattress Factory Museum (MF) will host the final exhibit celebrating the first artist exchange of the Firefly Tunnel Project.  The show will open in early September 2011 and run through to the new year. 

The exchange will take over the MF annex as well as bringing in live performances through out the run activating spaces like the garden and the front lobby.


0 Comments

    The Official Sites of Passage Blog

    Categories

    All
    Announcement
    Artist Call
    Artist Profiles
    Awards
    Exhibition
    Installation
    Performance
    Reflection
    Travel
    Visiting Artists
    Workshop

    Archives

    October 2020
    August 2020
    December 2019
    October 2019
    February 2018
    October 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    December 2015
    January 2015
    September 2014
    July 2014
    November 2013
    April 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    September 2011
    July 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010

    RSS Feed

© 2013 Sites of Passage 
© 2010 Firefly Tunnels Project 
tavia @ artup.org
Website by: Organise.LIFE