SIGNS OF CHANGE: SOCIAL MOVEMENT CULTURES 1960s TO NOW
September 20 – November 22, 2008
SATURDAY, September 20, 7-10pm: Opening Reception with live screen printing and ice cream from the Tactical Ice Cream Unit (operated by Arthur Magazine’s “Applied Magic(k)” columnists The Center for Tactical Magic)
Exit Art
475 Tenth Avenue
New York, NY 10018
T: 212.966.7745 ext. 15
www.exitart.org

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 as part of Exit Art’s Curatorial Incubator, this important and timely exhibition surveys the creative work of dozens of international social movements.

Organized thematically, the exhibition 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 student and worker revolution 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 organization.

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.

During the exhibition, there will be ongoing screenprinting workshops with guest artists and activists in collaboration with the Lower East Side Printshop as well as the following programs and events.

“In addition to the extensive material presented in the exhibition, the curators have organized numerous special programs throughout the exhibition period including a two-panel symposium on Thursday September 25, featuring creators, lenders and theorists from social movement cultures around the world, and a weekend of film screenings and discussions at Exit Art and 16beaver, featuring the rarely-seen film Narita: Peasants of the Second Fortress, of which only two copies with English subtitles are known to exist.”

WEEKLY SCREENING SERIES

(schedule and program is subject to change)

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday at 3:30pm

Friday and Saturday at 5:30pm

WEEK ONE: September 23 – 27
Newe Segobia is Not for Sale: The Struggle for Western Shoshone Land (1993)
The Land Belongs to Those Who Work It/La tierra es de quien la trabaja (2005)
To Walk Naked (1995)
Break and Enter (1970)

WEEK TWO: September 30 – October 4
Stronger than Before (1983)
Carry Greenham Home (1984)

WEEK THREE: October 7 – 11
Korea: Until Day Break (Excerpt from …will be televised) (1990)
Un Poquito de Tanta Verdad / A Little Bit of So Much Truth (2008)

WEEK FOUR: October 14 – 18
What the Fuck Are These Red Squares? (1970)
The Columbia University Divestment Struggle: Paper Tiger at Mandela Hall (1985)
Standing with Palestine (2004)

WEEK FIVE: October 21– 25
Films TBA.

WEEK SIX: October 28 – November 1
Five Days for Peace (1973)
Indonesia: Art, Activism, Rock ‘n’ Roll (2002)
People’s Park (1969)

WEEK SEVEN: November 4 – 8
Excerpt from Lanesville Overview I 9 (1972)
Be a DIVA (1990)
I the Film (2006)

WEEK EIGHT: November 11 – 15
Films TBA.

WEEK NINE: November 18 – 22
A Very Big Train Called the Other Campaign/Un tren muy grande que se llama: La Otra Campaña (2006)
Crowd Bites Wolf (2001)
Fourth World War (2003)

SIGNS OF CHANGE EVENTS

TWO-PANEL SYMPOSIUM
THURSDAY, September 25: Signs of Change Symposium
6 pm: Producing and Distributing Social Movement Culture
Panelists include: Yustoni Volunteero/Taring Padi Collective (Indonesia), illcommonz (Japan), Favianna Rodriguez/Tumis Design (Oakland, CA) and others TBA. Moderated by Gregory Sholette, Assistant Professor Queens College Department of Art, Co-Founder PAD/D & REPOhistory/New York.

8 pm: Assessing the History and Future of Social Movement Culture: A Critical Analysis
Panelists include: Sasha Roseneil/Professor of Sociology and Social Theory, Director, Birkbeck Institute for Social Research, Birbeck, University of London (UK), Sandy Kaltenborn/image-shift berlin (Germany), Mary Patten/Artist & Professor, School of the Art Institute (Chicago), and others TBA. Moderated by Kazembe Balagun, Brecht Forum/blogger: blackmanwithalibrary.com (New York, NY).

COLUMBUS DAY WEEKEND
Saturday, OCTOBER 11 to Monday, OCTOBER 13:
Weekend of Screenings and Discussion, co-sponsored by 16beaver group. Curated in collaboration with Benj Gerdes and Paige Sarlin.
SATURDAY, October 11 at Exit Art, 475 10th Ave @ 36th Street
4 pm: Finally Got the News (1970, 16mm, League of Revolutionary Black Workers).
7:30 pm: Narita: The Peasants of the Second Fortress (Sanrizuka: Dainitoride no hitobito) (1971). In Japanese with English subtitles.
Introduced by Sabu Kohso, Japan-born writer and activist, and Barbara Hammer, filmmaker. Screening Co-sponsored by Asian/Pacific/American Institute and Tisch Department of Photography & Imaging at NYU in conjunction with The Uses of 1968: Legacies of Art and Activism Symposium and 1968: Then and Now Exhibition. $5 at the door

SUNDAY, October 12 at 16beaver group, 16 Beaver Street, Fourth Floor $5 – $10 donation
12 pm – 9 pm: Featuring Diva TV (1989); Queen Mother Moore Speech at Green Haven Prison (1971); Winter Soldier (1972); Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan (2008); Stronger Than Before (1983); Fourth World War (2003) and others TBA. Discussions to follow.

MONDAY, October 13 at 16beaver group, 16 Beaver Street, Fourth Floor $5 – $10 donation
12 pm – 9 pm: Featuring Happy Anniversary San Francisco, March 20-21 (2003); What the Fuck Are These Red Squares? (1970); U.S. Premiere of Five Days for Peace (1973); Crowd Bites Wolf (2001); A Very Big Train Called the Other Campaign (2006); U.S. Premiere of What Would It Mean to Win? (2008); Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance (1993); and others TBA. Discussions to follow.

For more information on the programs at 16Beaver, please visit http://www.16beavergroup.org or call 212-480-2093.

16beaver group is located at 16 Beaver Street, Fourth Floor, New York City.

PREMIERE SCREENING
FRIDAY, October 24, 6–8 pm: Premiere screening of newly subtitled short films and footage of the 1960s Dutch Provo movement, and book release of Richard Kempton’s Provo: Amsterdam’s Anarchist Revolt (in collaboration with Autonomedia Press).

SCREEN PRINTING WORKSHOPS
In collaboration with the Lower East Side Printshop the exhibition will feature ongoing screen printing workshops with guest artists and activists. Check http://www.exitart.org for schedule and participating artists.

ELECTION NIGHT AT EXIT ART Save the date November 4, 2008. Please check http://www.exitart.org for more details.