In addition to our virtual events that happen at a specific time and date, we hope to also share content you can enjoy on demand. Check this page every day at 6PM for new content!
Virtual Exhibit
Not Your Model Minority: Pandemic, Proximity, and Power
Presented by the Stamp Gallery
Curated by Marjorie Antonio '22
Not Your Model Minority: Pandemic, Proximity, and Power is a response to the wave of anti-Asian rhetoric and violence surrounding the “Chinese virus” and the critical self-evaluation of Asian American positionality in the movement for Black Lives and earlier histories of Black and Asian solidarities.
In the mid-1900s, Asian Americans, as a group, were labeled as the racial “Model Minority” for their supposed achievement of a higher degree of socioeconomic success in comparison to other racial minority groups, most notably Black Americans. Yet, how can we challenge the idea of race--commonly understood as a socially-constructed notion of difference--as an instrument of empire? Where do Asian Americans fall in relation to other minority groups as a result of larger interrelated struggles of land, labor, and empire?
The five artists in this show engage and subvert assumptions affixed on the racialized and pathologized Asian body-- as perpetual foreigners, consumers in the system of whiteness, newly hypervisible yet historically invisible, submissive, quiet, apolitical, and displaced by United States imperialism and militarization--residing in the American landscape.
This virtual exhibit was curated by Marjorie Antonio ‘22 (also one of our NextNOW Fest 2020 student curators) and features works by Antonius-Tín Bui, stephanie mei huang, payal kumar, Selina Lee, and Nibha Akireddy.
Virtual Exhibit
Breath & Delirium: Selected Works by Glenda León
Presented by the UMD Art Gallery
Breath & Delirium: Selected Works by Glenda León is a free, online exhibition of video works by Havana-born, Madrid-based artist Glenda León.
The words ‘breath’ and ‘delirium’ refer us to the fragility of the body. They are symptoms of a primeval relationship humans hold with the world and with the rhythms of nature. León’s tautologies, as she refers to such poetic gestures, have the simplicity of a haiku in their ability to register intensities—transformations that are simultaneously disruptive and part of a natural process. As we mourn senseless losses and try to imagine a world where caring for those most vulnerable is no longer a cry that goes unheard, these works remind us that the material from which our dreams and desires are made prove as fleeting and brittle as a breath of air.
The artist’s video art combines performance with digitally manipulated photographs to create visual metaphors that explore the relationship between the body, nature, and the imagination. The lyricism that characterizes her multidisciplinary practice engages the senses through a subtle and elegant approach to the ironies and contradictions in the apparent and the mundane. León is one of the few female Cuban artists recognized internationally, and her extensive body of work covers a vast range of media. Her video works, some included in this exhibition, are in permanent collections of major art institutions such as the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, France, among others.
Breath & Delirium is organized by Patricia Ortega-Miranda, doctoral student and curatorial assistant. Major support is provided by the Dorothy and Nicholas Orem Exhibition Fund. Generous support is provided by the Maryland State Arts Council.
Publication
UMD 20-21 Disorientation Guide
Presented by Disorientation Guide at UMD
A disorientation guide is a publication created, published and printed by college activist communities across the country. This publication aims to provide a critical perspective to how the University of Maryland operates and offer resources and candid reflections to help students engage in issues of identity, justice, solidarity, and organizing.
The guide’s name is a play on our goal to provide students with a wider array of knowledge than a university-directed orientation could. The first UMD Disorientation Guide was published in 1970 as the UMD Radical Guide. We hope to continue supporting our community’s collective knowledge and labor, and preserve our voices in institutional memory.
DIY
NextNOW Coloring Pages
Presented by Caryn Chavarria and Eliza Clifford
Get creative with these exclusive coloring pages drawn by two talented local artists Caryn Chavarria and Eliza Clifford! For more information about the artists, check out their Instagram feeds: @crayola_caryn and @lavender_lizard_press.
Publication
Home in the Other
Presented by Home House Press
Explore this collaborative experimental workshop built by Homie House Press and students from the University of Maryland’s College Park Scholars Arts program. This workshop confronts layers of intimacy and investigates the loss and finding of home within and without community. You'll discover the work of UMD students in this digital newspaper reflection. Join the experiment yourself by completing the prompts. Share your stories and creations on social media and tag @nextnowfestumd and @homiehousepress.