March 22–April 26, 2024
370 Lancaster Ave
Haverford, PA 19041
USA
Artists: Tawana Petty, Halima Afi Cassells, Kate Levy, Shanna Merola, en sawyer.
What does it mean to be seen? To be watched? Are there consequences for collapsing the two? Observed: Hypervisibility and Reclamation explores the contradictions we face when surveillance is conflated with safety; when law enforcement agencies, governments, businesses, and institutions leverage digital and biometric technologies to track us, as well as our resistance and community responses. Using examples from Detroit, we dive deeper into the web of privatized surveillance and militarized security forces who use biometric technologies proven to cause harm, in particular the disenfranchisement of people of color. We also recognize Detroit as a birthplace of many revolutionary movements by shining a light on resistance organizing and community responses that ensure collective and communal safety. This exhibition features the work of Tawana Petty, Halima Afi Cassells, Kate Levy, Shanna Merola, en sawyer, and poets from around the world; artists whose work addresses these topics through spoken word, collage, projection, installation, and design.
Curator talk & opening reception: Friday, March 22, 2024, 4:30–7pm, Cantor Fitzgerald Gallery. Roundtable discussion: Wednesday, April 17, 2024, 4:30–6pm, VCAM Screening Room, with Devren Washington, Nancy Parker, Hamid Khan, and Chris Gilliard; moderated by Tawana Petty. More information here. Exhibition runs March 22–April 26, 2024.
Gallery hours
Monday–Friday: 11am–5pm / Wednesday: 11am–8pm / Saturday–Sunday: 12–5pm.
Observed: Hypervisibility and Reclamation is organized in conjunction with the Hurford Center’s 2023–24 Faculty Seminar, “Technology & Justice: Mediating Communities,” led by Sorelle Friedler and Laura McGrane. The exhibition is made possible with support from The John B. Hurford ’60 Center for the Arts and Humanities and is co-funded by the Haverford College Initiative for Ethical Engagement and Leadership (IEEL).
Contact: Matthew Seamus Callinan, Associate Director, Cantor Fitzgerald Gallery, VCAM, and Campus Exhibitions: mcallina [at] haverford.edu.
