https://news.artnet.com/art-world/fall-of-freedom-2025-2716978
"Across the U.S., artists and organizations have organized more than 600 pop-up
events, performances, readings, and other forms of creative protest as part of
Fall of Freedom, a new artist-led movement that aims to activate the country’s
culture community against growing authoritarian threats.
The nationwide program, taking place November 21–22, serves as “a cultural
roadblock,” said the artist, curator and writer Accra Shepp, one of the
project’s initiators. “You won’t be able to scratch your nose or turn your head
without bumping into a movie, or a video on your phone, or something you read.
It will be everywhere. You will be reminded that the rule of law matters and
that the arts—they not only celebrate freedom of expression, they are the
reason for freedom of expression.”
The initiative officially launches at the performance space National Sawdust on
Friday, with a night of music and dance, but events are scheduled throughout
the day and into the weekend. In New York City alone, there are nearly 200
projects taking place, ranging from a participatory art action by the
cooperative ABC No Rio held in Madison Square Park, to a video installation
hosted by the media arts non-profit Los Herederos in the Jackson
Heights-Roosevelt Ave subway station. A group called the NYC Resistance Salon
is displaying artwork and political cartoons critical of the Trump
administration on a roving digital billboard, and the Banned Book Brigade plans
to wear sandwich boards bearing the covers of their favorite censored
publications on the steps of the New York Public Library.
Some galleries and art spaces in New York are taking part or have submitted
existing shows under the Fall of Freedom umbrella, including 601ArtSpace, Jack
Shainman Gallery, Cristin Tierney Gallery, and Ronald Feldman Fine Arts. Among
the museums participating are El Museo del Barrio, which is hosting a
retrospective of the influential Cuban-American artist Coco Fusco, and the
Bronx Museum, which is presenting a show dedicated to the sculptor Reverend
Joyce McDonald, a member of the activist organization Visual AIDS. The Public
Theater is hosting a free screening of
Ask E. Jean, a documentary about the
journalist and advice columnist E. Jean Carroll, who successfully sued
President Donald Trump for sexual assault.
One of the most high-profile events is Creatives For Freedom, a benefit concert
held on Saturday night at Pioneer Works, headlined by the singer-songwriter
Sheryl Crow, with Mark Ronson, St. Vincent, Maggie Rogers, and other
performers, which will raise funds for the ACLU’s efforts to protect civil
rights."
Via Joyce Donahue.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
