Imagining De-Gentrified Futures

Curated by Betty Yu

Working class communities, immigrant communities, and communities of color across U.S. cities have been disproportionately impacted by hyper-gentrification and displacement over the last 15 years.

Is it possible to disrupt dominant narratives that depict gentrification as “inevitable” and a “natural” part of urban evolution—monolithic assertions that often come from real estate speculators, developers, extractive industries and the 1%? Can we harness our collective resources and trace a new trajectory that allows communities to flourish without being priced out of our neighborhoods?

Imagining De-Gentrified Futures is an interactive exhibition attempting to imagine socially-just futures for our cities and aiming to rethink the assumed trajectory of urban development. Drawing inspiration from anti-gentrification resistance across the U.S., decolonization movements, and Afrofuturism, this exhibition gives permission to imagine, to dream, to unleash and explore ways in which socially-just futures can exist for city communities.

Works on view take a variety of approaches to examine and suggest strategies for the challenges in cities like Hollywood, Philadelphia, New Orleans, New York City’s Chinatown and Brooklyn’s Sunset Park.

Artists: Black Quantum Futurism; Imani Jacqueline Brown; Sandra de la Loza; Chinatown Art Brigade; Robin Holder; Betty Yu; and Radical Housing Manifestos (Thomas Agnotti; Alicia Grullon; Hate Free Zone; Lynn Lewis, The Picture the Homeless Oral History Project; Antoinette Martinez, Protect Sunset Park; Robert Robinson; Pati Rodriguez, Mi Casa No Es Su Casa; Samuel Stein; Sunset Park Popular Assembly)

Imagining De-Gentrified Futures is an apexart Invited Curator Exhibition. 

Related Online Events:
Imagining De-Gentrified Futures Virtual Walkthrough
November 4, 6-6:45pm
Join us for a virtual tour of the exhibition with curator Betty Yu. We will “walk through” the virtual exhibition space, and learn about the ideas and research behind the exhibition as well as the artists and contributors. There will be time for questions and dialogue.
RSVP here

Artist Talk: Envisioning Housing Futurisms
November 12, 6:30-8:30pm
How can art and culture be a catalyst for us to envision a world that is grounded in social justice and liberation? The artists, collectives, and cultural workers featured in the exhibition provide a counter-perspective to the dominant narrative that artists have only been complicit in gentrification. 
RSVP here

Imagining De-Gentrified Futures Reading Group
December 1, 6:30-8pm
Explore ideas, texts, and media that expand on themes in the exhibition. Readings selected by Betty Yu will invite participants to discuss, reflect, and learn together.
RSVP Coming Soon

Disrupting Gentrification in NYC
December 15, 6:30-8pm
Join us for a panel discussion that features New York City organizers, activists and scholars sharing their research, organizing strategies, and bold visions for successful, community-led anti-gentrification and anti-displacement movements.
RSVP here