SEAN FADER + MAUREEN TOWEY UNVEIL QUEER AMERICAN MEMORIALS
Interdisciplinary social practice artists Sean Fader and Maureen Towey have unveiled the design for Queer American Memorials, a nationwide project which aims to unearth erased queer histories and reclaim queer spaces lost to hate. Inspired by the Stumbling Stones in Germany and the Stonewall riots, it is an evolution of Fader’s Insufficient Memory—an interactive Google Earth map which allows you to engage with a digital memorial to LGBTQ+ lives. In 2018, Fader began combing through historical archives to compile a database of every LGBTQ+ person who was murdered in a hate crime in the United States while the Hate Crimes Prevention Act was being debated from 1999 to 2000. The artists have spent the past year working in partnership with MASS Design Group’s the Public Memory and Memorials Lab to develop physical memorials to mark these locations. They now will be working with local communities and organizations to create a constellation of memorials in cities across the U.S..
TRIENNIAL BAY AREA NOW RETURNS TO YERBA BUENA CENTER FOR THE ARTS
Featuring 30 Artists from throughout the Bay Area and developed with a Curatorial Counsel of artists, activists, curators, and cultural workers, the ninth iteration of the institution’s signature triennial exhibition, opens on October 6, 2023. On view through May 5, 2024, BAN9 will feature a broad range of creative practices including visual art, dance, performance, music, film, sound, new media, technology, fashion, poetry, and social practice—underscoring YBCA’s role as one of the only interdisciplinary arts centers in the Bay Area. This edition holds particular significance, taking center stage in YBCA's 30th anniversary celebration and marking three decades of groundbreaking art and community connection. Exploring the notion of convening as a creative discipline, the exhibition will be contextualized and expanded through film screenings, workshops, artist talks and activations, performances, ceremonies, communal meals, public art, and more—developed with the Curatorial Counsel. Stay tuned for programming updates here.