the old is dying and the new cannot be born – a project by Lucky Pierre   June 10, 2017 – June 30, 2017

In a moment awash in militarized violence, white supremacy, and nationalism, the only schemes being offered by the dominant powers are the continued expansion of global capitalism, the overthrow of democratic ideals, and an embrace of authoritarianism and populism. Our recently elected chief executive and his administration are happily embracing these strategies. In contrast, people at the grassroots level are activated to resist, imagine, and create dynamic alternatives.

Central to Lucky Pierre’s project at Roman Susan is a participatory timeline capturing the first 100 days of the Trump administration. This living graph collectively charts the social, economic, and cultural forces currently at play. Typically, a timeline is a tool created from a historical and emotional distance used to make connections between the past and the present. At this time of profound conjuncture, can we collectively interpret history as it is happening? This impulse to decode current events can serve as a catalyst for conversation, an opportunity for co-learning, a counter-moment of hope – and perhaps an antidote.

Opening Event with CEW Design Studio: Saturday, June 10 // 6-8 PM

Join Lucky Pierre as we collectively add entries to the evolving timeline installed at Roman Susan. There will be art supplies available for protest sign making and CEW (Creatively Empowered Women) Design Studio will also be on site with a pop-up store.

CEW Design Studio is a local project that serves Bosnian and South Asian immigrant women, through art therapy and social enterprise. CEW provides a welcoming space for sewing, knitting, crocheting and art sessions that enhance life skills and cultivate a sense of community, promoting holistic well-being through skill sharing and fellowship.

The Reading Project with Judith Brotman: Sunday, June 25 // 3-5 PM

Join Judith Brotman and six invited guests who will read aloud from literature, nonfiction, poetry, and criticism. Readers will choose a personally meaningful text responding to our current historical moment. The selected texts will be revealed as read by each guest, creating impromptu juxtapositions, and textual interconnections. Each guest will read for 10 minutes. Conversation and cake will follow.

Judith Brotman is an artist and educator from Chicago. Her work has included mixed media installations and theatrical immersive environments which occupy a space between sculpture and drawing. Recent work also includes language/text based conceptual projects which are meditations on the possibility of transformation. The Reading Project stems from her interests in the impact of the written and spoken word, and the complex nature of human motivations.

Closing Event with Brian Holmes and Hoda Katebi: Friday, June 30 // 6-9 PM

At our closing event Brian Holmes and Hoda Katebi will lead a discussion addressing the question, “What does the moment in between the old dying off and the new creating itself have to offer?” Music and cookout will follow the heady discussion.

Brian Holmes is a cultural critic and an artist-cartographer, a member of the Compass group and of Deep Time Chicago. A polyglot and a prolific essayist with a focus on art and political economy, he has spoken and published around the world, especially in Europe and Latin America. His most recent visual work can be seen at ecotopia.today/livingrivers.

Hoda Katebi is a sarcastic (& angry) Muslim-Iranian writer, photographer, and activist living in Chicago, and is the founder of JooJoo Azad, a radical anti-capitalist, intersectional feminist, and body-positive activist fashion blog.