Creative Time and FotoFocus Present: The Convening Day 2 (Morning)

FotoFocus is pleased to announce its partnership with Creative Time for The Convening, a a series of critical dialogues, artist interventions, and performances in Cincinnati, featuring artists, critics, curators, and other distinguished guest speakers. A welcome event and performance will take place at Mecca on Friday, October 20, 2023, followed by a full day of discussions held at two venues: the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center and the Contemporary Arts Center, on Saturday, October 21, 2023.

Structured loosely around three earth-based thematics—land, waterways, and trees—The Convening will bring together national and local artists, activists, and thinkers whose work considers histories of land, particularly American histories that coalesce in the Cincinnati region. Through discussions, workshops, and performances, participants will explore issues of land sovereignty, access, and stewardship as well as the histories and enduring legacies of forced migration in the United States. The Convening is a significant collaborative effort designed to discuss thinking about land-use and self-determination through contemporary art practices, including photography.

The Convening is a prelude to the forthcoming Charles Gaines’ multi-city public art project, The American Manifest, culminating in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 2024. Commissioned by New York-based Creative Time with support from Cincinnati-based FotoFocus, The American Manifest is a series of monumentally-scaled works spanning multiple sites in New York City and Cincinnati, from 2022 through 2024.

This event is free and open to the public, but we encourage you to let us know that you plan to attend.

RSVP for Welcome Reception on October 20
RSVP for Symposium on October 21

For the latest schedule and more speaker details, please visit FotoFocus.org/Symposium.

Morning Session: Land and Stewardship

National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, 50 East Freedom Way, Cincinnati, OH

Centering on earth-based themes—land, waterways, trees—these conversations consider histories of land, land use, and the wisdom that can be gleaned from prolific natural histories, in which human culture has played a complicated role.

10am
Land Acknowledgement

Grounding
Aimee Meredith Cox, Associate Professor in the Anthropology Department at New York University, New York, NY

10:30am
Panel moderated by Justine Ludwig, Executive Director, Creative Time, New York, NY, with panelists: Charles Gaines, Artist, Los Angeles, CA; and Gee Horton, Visual Artist, Cincinnati, OH

11:30am
Panel moderated by Kevin Moore, FotoFocus Artistic Director and Curator, New York, NY, with panelists: Anissa Lewis, Artist and Executive Director, Wave Pool, Covington, KY; Chip Thomas, Photographer and Public Artist, Flagstaff, AZ; and Tania Willard, Artist and Curator, Syilx Territories, British Columbia, Canada

12:30pm
Keynote by RaMell Ross, Liberated Documentarian, Providence, RI