Gathering: Together, As Ourselves, As One

G A T H E R I N G

Image contributed by Washington Project for the Arts.

Photographed by McKenzie Grant-Gordon

“There is no way to hold memory singularly… and call that truth. … We have to do that in collaboration, we have to do it together. And that work is hard.”

-Sue Mobley Director of Monument Lab

2021: The need for a gallery in a new form

Before we can talk about the symposium, How Can We Gather Now? and the radical success it was in forging and establishing relationships and a presentation of rigorous experiential artforms; first we have to contextualize the human condition of 2021 as it was the precursor of circumstances that the symposium later addressed in 2023 acting as the medicine for both the people and the art world

In 2021 it appeared to me that although there were a few progressive art species, the majority that I both worked at and continuously saw exhibiting work online and in person appeared to have changed little in their programmatic approaches when the world had changed so drastically Below are the thoughts captured in 2021 as I saw it

With a shake of the global market and the social estrangement that the pandemic left in its wake lay the millions who did not survive and the rest of us grappling to bridge the gap of life before and afterward The George Floyd murder protests were marched worldwide with demands of institutional reform and art spaces now sit perplexed in a long-winded bureaucratic halt of strategic planning The pause to redirect is honorable, the constipation in pace is inexcusable

The hallmark texts of the previous century championed the terminology of the white cube, scorning the estrangement from reality and the integrated institutional whiteness that prevailed in the untouchable art making those who frequent the space feel unsafe and unwelcome Art now exists online in saved files organized in apps and populating inboxes, and electronic trash bins The proliferation of the visual image and moving images have dominated the landscape where Instagram and TikTok have inundated the populace to a position of being overly-entertained where the brain no longer craves ideas but seeks a break from the noise The need to find center and space for the individual has become a necessity in the time of the covid endemic with privately owned news stations and the ceaselessly updates on newsfeeds Though the need to separate from the noise of the curated digital world and the people paying to be heard most loudly and uninterrupted, the human need still longs to connect with the people to which they have been physically estranged

The moving and still image at this time is not the mechanic to teach and approach the people of this world suffering from overwhelm Nor is it the production of objects as there is no need for more stuff. The art world ought to cater to the people as they seek an outlet to do something That something could be trivialized arts and crafts or visit and fund an institution temporarily showcasing the phenomenological testimonies of BIPOC and queer gender expressions as it remains in vogue in the art world and by all means fund the arts and support the work of Black, Brown and queer artists– but how might the art gallery and art museums cater to serving the community rather than cherry-picking the stories they wish to share?

Libraries have now become centers to receive free covid tests, pharmacies administer free vaccinations, schools and neighborhoods have free food pantries, and yet the gallery and the museum sit affixed in their architectural spot sharing stories from artists who live this reality and do not yet move physically into the communities to which they say they support. The inflexibility of the physical location provides the creative opportunity for the gallery to mimic food trucks and and occupy pop-up locations to serve the needs of the community in forms of free-stores, free workshops with in-person replay opportunities to house and share a collective knowledge bank beyond the temporality of exhibitions and not reliant on an internet connection.

How might the art gallery become the contemporary bathhouse? Whereby the gallery has situated itself around accommodating all classes and people. Providing a communal space, sharing healing and a place for leisure to accommodate each person’s birthright to safety and pleasure is the beginning of re-imagining the form of the art space and a greater container for social practice and community arts.

The desire to forfeit the long coveted individualistic pursuit has since shifted to wanting to gather to offer service in a community of like minded people. The root of subsequent actions originate from wanting to feel a greater connection to self and the geographical local world around oneself. This idyllic collectivism does not find itself in the capitalist workforce as the very root of that system is to exploit the individual rather than the individual to give to the group with a mutualistic exchange. All businesses lacking mutualism have since reaped what they have sown seeking workers to fill the undesirable shoes of those before them. Though the art spaces could provide where the economic industries fail. Art spaces can offer the venue for mutualistic exchange and social enterprise giving people the platform to offer the service and connection the collective most diligently seeks.

Now in 2023, I was casually browsing my inbox and to my surprise saw an email from e-flux sharing the upcoming Washington Project for the Arts experimental symposium program entitled, How Can We Gather Now? I felt my prayers had been answered. In all the thoughts I had had, written about and proposed to create covid responsive programming, here people were actually doing it! They had not yet released the programmatic agenda, though I knew I had to be there. I had to put my body in the space of this question. I wanted to place myself in proximity to those asking the same questions.

I went into the purchase of my ticket as an investment in myself. I never once thought or had any apprehension that I might not know anyone. I just knew I wanted to put my body in motion with these people and be an active participant in what to me sounded like a social practice experience where we were to co-create what it meant to come together now and how to really adhere to experiential art that stoked the spirit in all of us. I had heard maybe then or later that there was going to be tea, and food and this only affirmed my pandemic extracurricular learnings of herbalism I had picked up in my time away from the world.

How the idea for the experimental symposium began

The idea for the How Can We Gather Now? symposium began on a walk in 2021 on a sunny day in Berlin.

Asad Raza and Prem Krishnamurthy went on a walk together and posed the question, how can we gather now?

Through the shared experience of exercise and conversation the two presented the creative design problem as a question to ponder how to bring people together safely; simultaneously curious on how to address making meaningful connections amidst the new global crisis of loneliness

The result took two years to plan and was facilitated by the Washington Project for the Arts (WPA). The full list of contributing artists to the three day program are listed below alongside their programmatic offerings for the symposium weekend Each participant was invited to the project by Prem and Asad to form the network of contributing artists The collaboration in developing this program took two years. Upon the first year, the contributing artists gathered virtually and took what they learned from the experience to inform the design of the hybrid symposium program we know as, How Can We Gather Now?

The experimental symposium was held at Eaton DC, located at 1201 K St NW in downtown Washington, DC. Eaton, is a mission-driven hospitality company that is committed to operating as a cultural hub for locals and travelers alike Eaton D C is the Workshop flagship location focused on hosting like-minded people to collaborate and create together The Eaton hospitality chain fully renovates pre-existing hotels to create a space mindful of land acknowledgements, gender neutral restrooms existing in both single and multiple occupancy formats, communal workspaces and a wellness center to offer a holistic experience The Eaton DC space bolsters a cinema, radio station, library, members' workspace, music venue, rooftop bar, literary bar, exhibition space, a creator’s room, event spaces, restaurant, and coffee shop.

How Can We Gather Now? Participants

From left (when rotated): (top) adrienne maree brown, Asad Raza, Bernard Farley, Mēlani N. Douglass, (bottom) Mindy Seu, Naoco Wowsugi, Prem Krishnamurthy, and Tiffany Sia.

How Can We Gather Now? Symposium Schedule

Images contributed by Washington Project for the Arts and the organizing artists.

Friday: Upon arrival

On the first day of the conference, I entered Eaton DC and as life would have it, I immediately recognized someone I have serendipitously bumped into three times now. My investment in myself in some ways is bringing me to people I have already met and many more I would soon meet.

Having just come from teaching my adjunct class at The Corcoran School of Art and Design at George Washington University. I had the luck of the schedule where the symposium landed on a critique day; which means I could make it to the symposium two hours earlier than any other Friday.

I arrived at the event registration table prior to the formal Welcome event. I got a cute green tie dye (swag) bag, a journal with an accompanying pen and a name tag lanyard to print my chosen name and preferred pronouns. I stuck with writing my first name only, Mallory, followed by she/they. There was extra space, and I chose to draw a sun.

The Corcoran faculty member, Maria del Carmen Montoya (Carmen), was the person I have continued to bump into. She introduced me to her neighbor, Nichole Abrams, and before we knew it, we were at the rooftop bar with gin and tonics in hand, discussing my disgust for the term “symposium” being attached to this weekend. Symposium to me felt like a sterilized business term used to legitimate this gathering in the eyes of those who are not artists. It felt contrived rather than letting the event exist in the more ethereal social practice light to which the programs elicited in and of themselves. I found it interesting that Carmen wrote “The Corcoran at GW” on her name tag. I was personally trying to feel into the space beyond my titles and affiliations outside.

I had only recently become comfortable with my jobs and sharing them in public, and I was happy to not feel as an outsider in that respect; though I also did not want that to be my qualifier in this space either. I wanted to sit on the floor and bear witness to what was planned for us and simply partake in a manner of consenting obedience where I can relax into the container of the symposium like a house guest rather than a corporate

Friday: Keynote Speaker: adrienne maree brown

The keynote speech was held on Friday night featuring adrienne maree brown and hosted by Prem Krishnamurthy. The conversation began shortly after the formal welcome statement to the congregation of in-person attendees and virtual participants. It began with Prem giving us, the audience, verbal permission to get comfortable and even suggesting that we kick off our shoes, which he promptly did himself. Sock-footed and sitting comfortably, Prem attempted to begin the keynote conversation with adrienne who joined us remotely via Zoom. As he began, all of her audio responses were lost through technical difficulties. Prem referred to these technical inconveniences as,“bumpiness,” describing the uneven or not smooth ripples in the plan. Prem believes that art and design can be used to intentionally slow down contemporary life to land here; in the present moment. To afford the tech crew some time to resolve the audio connection, Prem led the group in an impromptu grounding exercise, enabling us to pause and come together amidst the bumpiness.

For those unfamiliar, adrienne maree brown, is a writer, activist and facilitator. She is the author of Pleasure Activism, Journal of Radical Permission, Holding Change, and Emergent Strategy to name a few. To welcome the group and celebrate the technological

Image contributed by Washington Project for the Arts

connection of audio, adrienne stated, “ solutions to collective problems”, and the group rejoiced in applause. adrienne returned with the proverbial statement of, “less prep, more presence”, and she prompted us in a second centering activity, this one having us close our eyes and asking ourselves, “who are you showing up with?” This question pertains not necessarily to the people in the room that came with us, but the people in our body, mind, and spirit that we each carry with us.

adrienne’s participation virtually was not without purpose She has made a personal commitment to honor limitations for the betterment of the environment, choosing not to fly for professional opportunities She reserves the right to fly for personal matters only when necessary, all in an effort to reduce her carbon footprint.

Joining the group virtually from Durham, North Carolina, adrienne shared her experience of relocating due to the pandemic lockdown She realized she could no longer exist in a city with neighbors above and below her She needed the room (in her life) to blast music at any hour of the night and to have space and a greater relationship to the land She is a part of what she considers, the Detroit diaspora. Her family lives in Durham and she shared her adjustment to the region and how there is work to be done in the south.

adrienne posed the question, “how can we foster intimacy at a distance?”

She prompted the in-person symposium attendees to look around the room and find someone nearby that we did not know beforehand and go up and introduce ourself and have a conversation I met a woman not far from where I was sitting who managed all the National Arboretum events This activity ranged in about a ten minute exchange and then was brought back to adrienne’s keynote speech.

She upon reflecting on virtual meetings followed by in-person encounters denoted that the screen is an equalizer Following any forged connection that started online, when we meet these people in person they are always taller or smaller than you would expect

Her talk was beautiful and centered around being courageous When the talk concluded and the floor was open for questions, Simone Sydnor, spoke up calling attention to the demographic in the room. They brought forth the attention that Black and Brown people were underrepresented in attendance and wanted to propose the question as to why The subsequent questions were how did WPA approached marketing and ticket prices that yielded this result. This brave voiced observation called agency to the group and directed the audience to consider the container of the symposium in form and execution

Attendance demographics being predominantly white and/or white passing is not only an issue for WPA and the organizing artists, it is a symptom of the exclusionary elitism of the field. It is important to note the exclusionary practices of the contemporary art world given that the event was shared amidst art spaces, newsletters and by word of mouth in

art academic spaces that tend to host people who have pursued terminal degrees in their respective creative disciplines. The resulting audience is thus also subject to the barrier of higher education. The symposium ticket price was not a $15 Eventbrite ticket you would buy and later not attend; it was an investment of your time and money. Ticket prices for the full three day event was $185, which covered programmatic participation for three days, event swag and multiple meals. Ironically enough in the critique of ticket prices, the food expenses per person exceeded $200 each which was financially offset by other means of event funding. Also, free tickets were available for all graduate MFA candidates at regional schools from D.C., Maryland and northern Virginia.

To the organizer’s credit, the programming centered a racially diverse panel of participants offering wisdom on how to navigate personal and work boundaries in capitalist and racist institutions, how to practice activism and undermine institutional exclusionary practices and facilitate community building through a myriad of multidisciplinary acts and moments of rest. They gathered an exceptional group of creative people who are cutting edge in the field and willing to place their ego aside to be radically vulnerable with themselves and the group.The resulting group was the byproduct of a fractal growth pattern whereby the contributing artists prompted people in their inner circle to come to the event. It was artists inviting artists, which directly supported the emotional intimacy of a like-minded group. Exclusionary in one respect and also simultaneously a network of people that created the opportunity for communal trust to ensue. However it does not change the majority of audience members being white or white-passing and female or womxn.

The talk concluded and everyone broke for dinner. This was one of the few times the symposium did not provide a meal. I left Eaton D.C. for a couple of hours with Carmen and Nichole in attempts to bond more meaningfully over a meal. We returned to the K is for Karaoke event. They quickly left to return home to their families and I stuck around to watch Prem and Kalaija Mallery duet the song “Hungry like the Wolf” and pair up myself with a kind stranger to sing Tracey Chapmans’ “Fast Car.” We all gathered together following the end of the first night for a talk and smoke break outside sharing rave reviews, excitement and our thoughts on what was to come.

Friday: Keynote conversation: My personal notes

The following abbreviated thoughts are my notes on adrienne’s talk most of which captures fractal statements she made during her speech:

Holistic experience

Resting

Embodiment

Liberation and transformation justice

Healing comfort

What it means to be together

To have fun

How do I land and find my people?

Spirit and being in good spirits

Contending with who we are now post/after the pandemic

How do we meet wanting to be seen?

“I don’t want to project a fantasy self online anymore”

Wanting to be as real

As authentic and messy as possible

Want to laugh with other people

Laughter is a survival strategy

We are so lonely

We gather around complaints but we really want to gather to knit together watch a movie together.

People made these absurdist memes.

These memes are oerings

“they did this for us”

“thank god we had the pandemic in this time versus the 1800s; I would not have survived it.”

Relationship of writing and gathering

Gathering is paramount to survival

Putting out a bat signal→ who picks it up is who is like me

I am

pleasure activism

Pleasure is huge

Desire

Role of conflict in causing/facilitating gathering

We first need to meaningfully disagree

Before we can meaningful agree

Nourishing yourself

Having something shift

Most of us are bad at conflict

We don’t have the conditions to fight fair

She wrote in her book, Emergent Strategy something to this eect: To get along, we actually need to struggle (it bonds us)

Conflict helps us see where boundaries are necessary and (where) intimacy is possible

trust , intimacy, vulnerable, attachment

Open and porous container

Can I say no to you?

How to sit with tension

Have faith

Tension something is growing that will have to leave its container Tensions shows what we care about

Tension of passion- something at stake

Bumpiness, discomfort being a human is an experiment

We want to know why we are here

The conflict shifts the story

Living your truth is important approaching hypocrisy is a great conflict

This is a hard time to be alive -How can we gather in right relationship?

Sensuality

Visibility is dangerous; being visible you don’t see who is in your shadow

How do we make room for others?

I am just trying to live my one life and others are doing the same

“We are all trying to figure this out”

All attempting to address existential longings/desire

Test out ways of being with others

We are all figuring this out

We are practicing governance and sovereignty

This is how to be together

Gathering around ideas

Radical vulnerability of leadership courage is needed

Invite others into courage

Grounding-root into the presence

More rest makes you a better leader

Being a leader:

1) Inspire others to be courageous

2) I want to be special but making me feel special does not help people

I want my story to be bigger than my whole life.

Trying to make space in an unsafe world.

We are going to recognize the construct, and choose to connect

In a conflict there is actually a request in that moment this could be: feeling heard, an apology, etc.

“I feel grief for the lost art of hanging out” the unstructured gathering

Be honest about who likes to hang out how do you like to hang out? watch movies and smoke weed?

Kids do things better than adults want to play? ( I don’t need to know your name or your story, I just want to hang out)

I love being quiet with other people

If you want to push back against the institution, anticipate its push back in a group of trusted community

When referring to distance connections

“ I am far, but I am with you”

Saturday: Breakfast and Morning Program

First thing in the morning, I was flustered outside disputing over the phone with a representative of a fully tech/no-person operated parking garage that had locked my car in the garage the night before. I had secured a business card from Kalaija Mallery with her personal phone number printed on it from the night before In an attempt to secure breakfast before it ended, I texted my acquaintance for help to fix me a plate She kindly inquired about my dietary restrictions. I felt like I had a friend amidst a stressful situation. It felt profoundly sweet having just met her yesterday Having her help gave me a sense of place as I entered a room full of people and had someone to greet and thank for their genuine kindness The symposium was already creating the environment where acquaintances from yesterday were already friends willing to provide favors today Even the small simple smiles exchanged across the lobby and stairwell with unknown symposium attendees identifiable with their green lanyards helped each of us feel welcome, known and seen The breakfast was delicious! The banana bread was truly the best I have ever had in my life. Eaton DC agreed to keep the breakfast out for longer than the listed time, followed by a light refreshment area, which was greatly appreciated and acted as its own gathering space Outside of meal times, there remained complimentary water, juice, tea and coffee available as well as popcorn to snack on. This created a nice opportunity to smile and connect with people we had heard talk yesterday and throughout the following Saturday programs. I thought of it as the watering hole where we could strike up conversation as desired and seek a stimulation break as well as up our blood sugar

During our brief Saturday warm welcome, it is made apparent that we would be breaking off into programmatic events I looked at the schedule and was overwhelmed and felt dismayed that so many events were running simultaneously where I would be missing a wealth of the programming This quickly became a collective experience of FOMO People in respective groups were splitting up with the idea to take notes and report back to the group with what they had heard. Inadvertently the symposium had created a format where people consciously separated themselves from their previously-forged connections to enter spaces with strangers to witness and partake in new gatherings.

It felt like the beginning of the symposium and after a wonderful Friday it felt crazy to think that our first singular choice denied us access to a multitude of programs we would have wished to see I chose to attend 11:15am–12:45pm - Conjuring for kitchens, dancefloors, and the cosmos organized by Mēlani

N Douglass

Throughout Saturday, I could not shake the idea that the symposium, while great, was limited by existing in a single weekend. What about the people that could not make it? How do we approach sustaining a practice of gathering beyond this acute experience? 15

Saturday: Conjuring for Kitchens, Dancefloors and the Cosmos

In “Conjuring for kitchens, dancefloors, and the cosmos” organized by Mēlani N. Douglass, Mēlani hosted a talk with Nzinga Tull, to discuss gathering through the contexts of herbalism, dance and astronomy. Nzinga works at NASA professionally as an Aerospace Systems Engineer and Mēlani is the founder of The Family Arts Museum and is the business owner of MĀK Apothecary The format of this program involved a humble experience of sitting on the floor as participants witnessing the conversation between Mēlani and Nzinga placing the viewer in a position to receive and not ask more from us but to witness the wisdom uncovered in their conversation In a sense we were liberated from any obligation beyond exercising respectful quietude.

As a participant, we entered the space at the rear of the room seeing a low table with Mēlani at the head seated alongside Nzinga and we nonverbally knew to join them on the floor where pillow cushions were available Everyone seated had a blue beverage and if for any reason we missed the opportunity to get the tea, we then got up quietly and made our way to the entrance to the self-service beverage dispenser With our shoes now off and sipping a distinctively indigo colored herbal tea of Mēlani’s creation we were guided through a tea tasting meditation. The MĀK Apothecary tea called, go lay down, contains butterfly weed, chamomile, skullcap, linden and yarrow Some of the tea ingredients include nervine herbs, that help settle the nervous system to help us relax in the new space and find comfort in the change. Other herbs in the blend are adaptogens that help to restore balance to our bodies to arrive at equilibrium The acceptance of this herbal offering places us physically at ease in our new environment amongst new people. Having something to drink gave us something small to do with our hands and unified us through a collective experience This space privileged intuition, self-regulation and ancestral work. Here we experienced a brief reprieve from pressures of productivity; we actively leaned into not complying with the pressure to be a doing-machine as the work-force and art-world demands of us The air felt easy to breathe and there became bodily comfort in my position on the floor and that same feeling of security and contentment felt mirrored back to me by those in the space

Mēlani and Nzinga discussed the societal arbitrary delineation between art and science whereby Mēlani stated that the, “Divide in science and art is like the two different sides of the brain, but the brain is still one brain”. The conversation spanned work, recreation and work-life balance to address the power structures in each space and how to navigate the expectation to make room for ourselves How might we be able to show care, consideration, and compassion for ourselves and others?

The two outlined a manner at which we can exercise work boundaries following new hiring and diversity initiatives set in the pandemic. The murder of George Flyod and associated social backlash led to a wave of institutional diversity commitments and supported hiring initiatives for people of color However once these institutions hired new

employees, it did not absolve the institutions from being racist. It did however contribute to front loading the responsibility on new hires to not only perform the position requirements but also task them with making the institution not racist often in an unwelcoming work environment. Mēlani and Nzinga had some tips on how to exercise boundaries when placed in this position. Mēlani and Nzinga shared that you need to reframe what the institution, your bosses and co-workers are asking for.

Step 1: Name what they are asking for Restate what they requested you to do. “So what I am understanding is you want me to…”

Step 2: Then state how this request is really them asking for Take the time to reword their request in order to capture not only the verbally articulated request, as well as the non-verbalized request of being single-handedly deputized to make a space and its people not reify racism and inequity. In order to do so, you have to start with making them aware of the full picture of what they are asking of you. This helps account for emotional labor.

Step 3: Share your assessment of what needs to be done

Step 4: Divide the assessment up into a list of tasks Step 5: Tell them what you are willing to do and how long that will take.

This is the process of making boundaries at work. Take back your power when being tasked with “solving the problem”. “You have to remember your power at the table”. Get paid for the labor you are doing.

Mēlani and Nzinga remind the group of “the power of non-performance and noncompliance”. We can resist the need or urge to tick things off the list to make room

Image contributed by Washington Project for the Arts

for ourselves. The stuff that comes out of not-doing is the most honest special outcomes. How do we re-establish the value in the space of non-doing? It is our responsibility to hold fertile space to *not overschedule ourselves and schedule in time to not work. This is a process where we need to trust ourselves that not-doing is actually going to serve us in the long run. We have been conditioned to believe that multitasking gets more done at the same time. The truth is that multitasking is not a thing. We only have one thought at a time. So what we are doing when we claim that we are multitasking is we are just further distracting ourselves in the process of trying to perform one thing at a time.

Mēlani asks the group what are our practices of being? I shared that this year I hope to privilege smiling more. To be more grateful. Having witnessed the loss of my grandma and the recent professional success of landing my first adjunct faculty position, I want to be more grateful and present in all that I am experiencing in both joy and grief. Mēlani responded by questioning if smiling more and being grateful are not in fact practices of doing rather than being. Mēlani accentuates the difference between being and doing by articulating that to be in a process “of being” then we are not in a process “of doing”. This idea became one where participants responded in disagreement to her mutually exclusive claim. One man stated that there can be processes of being when taking a walk or practices of gardening and other passive activities where the doing can in fact bring us to a place of embodiment or otherwise stated as a place of being. Mēlani then amended her claim and thanked everyone for giving her a new perspective on how being and doing can be in conversation with one another. By making space in our busy schedules to engage in our practices of being, we make room for ourselves in a society that assesses our value on the products of our labor. Giving ourselves the time to be in a state of being whether through activity or otherwise, gives our bodies the space to self-regulate our emotions and makes us better to ourselves and towards our communities. The hygiene of maintaining emotional sovereignty is through the continual practices of being which brings us closer to ourselves and gives us the space to be open and understanding with others.

A participant named Ama in the group shared that she wants to work on holding more patience for her father. She explains that, “My dad comes from a culture of storytelling as an answer. And we come from a culture of yes, no, let’s go”. She shares that she wants to privilege “Cultivating patience” as she understands that his way of being speaks to his cultural upbringing in Ghana and how American culture differs. I can hear her love for him and it reminds me dearly about how I want to exercise more patience with my father.

The quote Mēlani said that resonated with me the most was, “Everyone wants a new life, but no one wants to die”. The way I interpreted this was more of a death of the ego as opposed to a physical expression of death We all want a new life, different circumstances, a glow-up if you will, but we do not want to shed the bad habits, destructive coping mechanisms, and let go of old relationships we have out-grown in order to allow ourselves the room to grow into the version of ourselves we want to become. With give, comes take; if we want to be given more, we have to find what needs to go in order to make room for the new This experience feels new; so if I want to be in more alignment with this experience as this feels authentic to me, then what must I let go?

Accompanying the group of adult participants was Mēlani’s daughter and her friend who were helping with MĀK Apothecary. They were somewhere around the age of being able to sit quietly and understand the conversation and young enough to influence the adults around them to speak at an approachable level for them to understand. Their youthful energy softened the group offering a level of permission to see this as a family gathering Mēlani invited the girls to share what they know about an herb of their choice Each of them took time sharing the facts and applications in which the herb acted as medicine and the ways it can be taken and enjoyed Giving them the room to contribute was Mēlani’s doing and thereby elevated their voices to coexist with a NASA Aerospace Systems Engineer and professional artist who founded an art museum and business. It was a refreshing flattening of hierarchies and let us,the audience members, see the value in honoring their contributions

One of the participants named Jamie J said that, “following the pandemic, workers are traumatized.” She is collaborating on a project in Philadelphia where, “we are working to build a space for trauma care in addition to [a] thinking space” in the work environment I had hoped to speak with her more on this project following the program It raises the question of, how can we walk away from this program and apply this as a model to the spaces we inhabit? I believe we can use the examples Mēlani and Nzinga provided us and we can also lean on each other for support In many ways we have to hold up our own end of the bargain when we ask for help. Sometimes we rely too heavily on other people to give it to us These questions and practices do not ask the over-giver to give more, they are introspective prompts if you will to support each of us finding equilibrium in work environments and cooperative practices. Mēlani asked us, “Who is on your team? Who on your team needs more space?” We all answered me when asked to say our answer aloud. This then places the agency on the individual on how we can give ourselves more space? As the program came to a close, Mēlani said to the group, “Thank you for your time as that is not something we can get back; give back”

Saturday: Lunch

Eaton DC staff put all the food out on time and in a seamless and beautiful arrangement. Lunch was absolutely delicious Shrimp, pulled pork, hummus, you name it was there The food was served buffet style with healthy and fresh food options Everyone appeared to rave over the food in a collective astonishment at the quality, quantity and nutritional value presented

During lunch I was bold and sat at Prem and Asad’s table, with the WPA employees, a complete group of people I did not know It was only because I had spoken to Prem after our karaoke performances on Friday that I felt comfortable doing it in the first place. We had been prompted during lunch to engage in asking questions found within the booklets located at each lunch table The idea was that the more “spicy” the question, the more personal it was. So progressively further into the booklet the questions became more personal I inadvertently became a leader reading the questions aloud and posing the questions to the table for each table mate to share their response when they were ready

When the topic of social media came up, the stress of being performatively professional and hybridizing that with a more personal life narrative can be overwhelming. This social

Image contributed by Washington Project for the Arts

media stress consumes myself and another tablemate, Mojdeh Rezaeipour We were contrasted by another tablemate who avidly uses LinkedIn for their writing practice. We stumbled across the unspoken agreement that as visual artists, Instagram feels like a container for fixed images – meaning when I upload a picture there, the image exists in what looks performatively like a “complete” state Or in other words, taking things for face value Instagram in some ways created visual inundation that the consumption rate on social media does not hold the space for criticality and nuance that would be supportive of an artist Whereas words on Twitter and LinkedIn can arguably have more freedom as a kind of accumulative process

In our most spicy question, we were asked to share how do we self-sabotage?

I said it is through elevating the voices of others above my own Another tablemate, Nathalie von Veh, said being late to things -- that they had suffered from not having an internal clock I can genuinely relate to this

Images contributed by Mallory Kimmel

Saturday: Afternoon Programming

I had actually really hit it off with my tablemate, Josh Gamma, who was sitting beside me at lunch and as it turned out, he and I went to the same afternoon program We both decided to attend the “Memory Museum: A Tea Meditation” program organized by Mēlani N Douglass featuring Shawna Murray-Browne from 2:30–4:00 pm I had the good fortune this time to actually sit up at the front of the Salon room which meant I was seated on a floor cushion at the table with a deep indigo colored tea. The tea was warm, smooth and sweet Josh settled in sitting beside me Prior to the start of the program, Josh and I left the Salon for the bathroom Our conversation in this case did not have to be put on pause as we went to separate restrooms; We could continue our conversation in the bathroom line awaiting a stall in the multiple occupancy gender neutral restroom The bathrooms were not only an inclusive format, they also provided us with a new opportunity to strike up or continue conversations with all genders in the restroom.

We found our way back to our seats to hear the conversation between Shawna and Mēlani I sat here listening with my notebook out as people came in and got settled Shawna is an integrative psychotherapist and social worker committed to decolonizing therapy. She started off the conversation addressing how Capitalism at its root requires a loss of culture The process of getting current, following trends, and optimizing, results in the loss of the former aesthetic The process of getting current is a process of forgetting what came before it. So then by contrast the value of importance rests on remembering. Shawna notes, “Hopefully not having our culture that has been stripped of us sold back to us.” The system of society is built around capitalism and dismemberment. Thus preserving memory becomes vital to remember who you are. By exercising spiritual practice we can preserve: personal, collective and ancestral memory Shawna shares a spiritual practice of hers. She shares that she is personally moved by the water. She likes to go to the river to watch the water Through the practice of going to the water, watching the water and watching what happens Shawna finds her connection to self, and her ancestors. In some cases she is called by her ancestors to sit in the water, other times she just observes the water Shawna shares, “You don’t have to go very far to find yourself somewhere else ” Shawna reminds us that, “We are water We are reflections of each other.”

Shawna later reflects on having had an influential mentor who was an elder in the community I did not get the woman’s name however Shawna describes the time as one where, “She sat with me and asked me who I am ” Shawna continued saying the woman told her, “I need you to be able to explain who you are.” Shawna reflects back on this time as a time where she would sit at the feet of someone else as an adult and allow herself to become a child again; to be willing to learn again To engage in the death and rebirth cycle in the presence of “elders and olders,” as Shawna called them. This phrasing calls into greater awareness the parallel structure as to how Mēlani organized the conversation to take place in front of the group where we are on the floor holding

space for Shawna’s and Mēlani’s wisdom respectively Sitting in reverence of others is witnessing their genius. Being a pupil in life is about acquiring wisdom through observation We as a society honor this sentiment in school and other places where demonstrations are exercised- however we often compartmentalize the time of watching, witnessing and holding reverence for others’ intelligence as some sort of temporary exchange where you now are expected to nearly match your teacher’s skillset with no time invested and get results. Sitting at your elders and olders feet figuratively and literally on occasion is by contrast a process of being and not one with an expectation of doing Slowness is important and we have been conditioned to do everything fast, but all that speed does not allow for the time to connect with ourselves, our ancestors and our elders

When we approach each other slowly, we can offer the other person the opportunity to not dysregulate their nervous system By going slow, we offer the space to the other person to share, the opportunity to participate, and the opportunity for them to be themselves Shawna makes the point that when we approach each other slowly we have the time to see we have different skills in this group The differences are an asset to supporting each other. We are sometimes the medicine to each other.

Mēlani posed the prompt to individually define your medicine Identify at least one of the places you go to, like a happy place. My answer is: the intersection by Black Water Refuge in Cambridge, Maryland The feeling of sunlight on my face The ability to see the horizon See the big sky Hear the quiet The ability to feel safe because all sounds can be accounted for. The same can be said for being able to see everything. The idea of space Feeling as though I have space Weightlessness, the feeling of having no responsibilities. Mēlani reminds us that we can continue to visit these places through our visualizations By visiting these places, she says, “You change your healing process ” Mēlani also opens up the conversation for us to individually share our visualizations Simone spoke, sharing her visuals of being excited with the sun beating down on her skin and she is on top of a sand dune running down the hill with the wind carrying the sand into her hair and brushing against her face and skin For a moment we are completely mesmerized by Simone’s storytelling. She continued to share the other places she went to, transporting the group into these beautiful places centered on joy, play and nurturing support. No rendition of my paraphrasing does her explanations any service.

After our individual visualizations, Mēlani prompted us to get into small groups of three or four people around us to create a list of new medicines What might serve as a medicine to support us when we need it most? Josh, myself and another woman formed a group. The other lady began opening up about having felt sad and alone for a long time I asked if it was okay if I gave her a hug, and she said yes We both nearly cried and she said please don’t or I definitely will, I am a Pisces I said I am a Cancer with a moon in Pisces so I totally understand and we had a good laugh and agreed that a good cry can go a long way Josh loves music and shared that the sounds of the tambora are

particularly relaxing for him We compiled a small list together of our new medicine I also could not help but be confused and a little too tethered to the idea of wanting to get this exercise right and what does new really mean within the context of the question?

Making a new medicine in our small group

A hug

Crying

Sleep

Sense shifting → quieting the eyes + mind's eye

Sounds of a tambora

Once the time was up, each group had a representative speak up and share our list of new medicines and the following list archives those medicines shared with the group

List of the group’s new medicines

Texture cream + oil

Color and light shifting

Sunshine the warmth on the skin

Daydreaming

Movement dance, chanting, singing

Creating with your hands

Swaying

Knitting, waving, beading

Rhythm

Play

Grounded and weightlessness

I enjoyed the energy and offerings so much from Shawna Murray-Browne that I decided to hang back after the program ended to speak and connect with her deeper. I shared with Shawna that I am originally from Maryland and have had a hard time finding my people here. I added that Baltimore feels more like a city centered around art and artists and that I work a part-time job up in Baltimore I know little about good places to meet people up there and would love recommendations on spaces to check out to find my community. Shawna suggested the following places to me.

Suggested places in Baltimore

The Living Well

Baltimore Racial Justice Action (BRJA)

Impact Hub *

I rested with them before racing off to the next event I caught the end of “Deep Listening: Horticultural Sound Bath”

Images contributed by Washington Project for the Arts (WPA)

3:30pm–5:00pm - “Deep Listening: Horticultural Sound Bath” organized by Naoco Wowsugi includes the artistic collaborators of the Very Sad Lab, Smoke & Tea and Imka. The program focused on the production of ambient sounds and music-making The music compositions are informed by the sound waves plants admit. By playing these sounds waves back to plants in poor health and humans the intent is to heal and provide wellness for both species Participants are to lay or sit comfortably amidst sad plants to partake in symbiotic healing practices amongst plant comrades. Participants were invited to bring plants (healthy ones, sick ones, sad ones, spikey ones, etc ) to enjoy a sound bath Plants and people alike were placed on the floor comfortably in an equalized format where they experienced a transformational sound experience.

I caught the last half hour of the program Following the end, I helped with clearing the plants off the ground and moved them to the large window sill to prepare the space for the keynote speaker, Stefanie Hessler Very Sad Lab has plant cuttings in Topo Chico glass bottles for propagation. Each is available for plant adoption. Many participants adopted one or more plants, often naming them in the process, taking full advantage of the opportunity I was thirsty and decided I would grab something to drink before the next event began

Saturday: Afternoon resisting FOMO

I went to the drink station outside the main room where we shared meals and bumped into Ama from the Conjuring for kitchens, dancefloors, and the cosmos talk. I really resonated with what she said in the workshop, sharing about her relationship with her father. She initiated a conversation with me and told me that she had resonated with what I had shared with the group. We began talking just to find out that we were both raised in the DMV (DC, Maryland and Northern Virginia metro area) with a former and still present childhood disdain for the region. She has relocated from London and we were so happily surprised to have found such a rigorous group of artists in D.C. for an event like this. I began sharing some of the tips and tricks on how to navigate the region as an art professional who had been established elsewhere and moved back home. At the time the programming was beginning for the Stefanie Hessler Keynote speaker talk. We decided to forfeit the event and find somewhere quiet to continue our conversation.

I knew of a small two person bench down the hall and off to the side where we could seek some quiet time and have some space to continue our conversation. We respectfully resonated with what each other shared in the former event and actually chose to overcome FOMO and sit out an event. We talked for over an hour straight getting to know one another and I realized how this symposium really changed the social dynamic between artists.

Normally when I meet an artist, it is at a show opening and I enjoy looking at the work. I talk with the artist about their practice. I hear their questions, I then enjoy the mental thought process of asking myself to see the world through these questions. I expand myself once further talking about the human condition through the lens of these questions and it fades and the night is over. We go our respective ways. The shape of that dialogue for me is a sideways funnel. It goes: their art-> the questions affiliated with their practice -> the human condition.

Linear Artist Talk Diagram

Image contributed by Mallory Kimmel

Speaking with Ama was more like peeling back the layers of an onion. The first layer was to discuss the program we had just witnessed together. To reflect on what had been said, and what it had brought up for each of us. In this case, Ama and I both had shared and spoken up during the workshop, so we had the opportunity to see that we were like minded people able to speak up and articulate ourselves and remain vulnerable in front of a crowd. Then once we finished unpacking the topic in the program, we moved to talking about the container of the symposium. What we were enjoying, and what had been working. This also brought up why we came here, and what we had attended before in a hope to connect like this. These questions help us understand where we were coming from in order to be here. What life shifts we experienced following the pandemic that has reshaped how we navigate the world. The next layer is very meta, focused on the container of life. What does it mean to be alive now? Is life centered only around pleasure and pain? Then after having talked for hours you then realize oh my gosh, I really like this person and I forgot they are a totally brilliant artist, designer, curator, creative! Then I want to hear about what they are making, what their questions are, etc. This process of unpacking our experience lets us meet as people before meeting as colleagues or creative applicant competitors.

Conversation Onion Diagram

Saturday: Dinner

After talking with Ama I went to try and experience “the smell”, an engineered synthetic scent as an homage to the natural world amidst the climate crisis by Sissel Tolas that Stefanie Hessler featured in her curation of MOMENTA 2021 Biennale de l’image.

I was fortunate enough to have sat at lunch with Stefanie, so I apologized for missing the talk and inquired if I could smell the smell. I had heard some people say on their way out it smelled bad, Phaedra Askarinam, a friend of mine and current MFA candidate of American University, told me it smelled like nature. If you press the lever the scent is supposed to release, when I do this, a clear liquid dribbles onto the floor and I struggle to catch a whiff. I am told if I pump it it will spray out. I begin pumping the canister repetitively and am then told the more I pump, the longer it will continue to spray, but it is too late. The smell is spraying excessively without end making the floor wet, and for my captured photo of this experience I have captured an Eaton DC staff member walking into the mist.

I felt horrible and we tried to clean it up but were hurried out of the space for them to flip the space again for the Future Drum Circle event. The Eaton staff runs a tight ship and have been upholding the tight schedule flipping the spaces for each programmatic need. Though I concur the smell smells like dirt in a wet clean earth type of way. Think spring time followed by a sharp transition to cat pee and followed by a wet dirt smell again.

Phaedra and I break for dinner. We go to the Eaton coffeeshop and I get a chia pudding so I can eat and get back upstairs in time for the Future Drum Circle event. Phaedra’s husband’s birthday is today, and she cannot stay much longer although she sits with me as I eat. She Image contributed by Phaedra Askarinam. takes the time to update me on her ever-evolving art practice and has come to a new realization moving from painting to video. She landed on the new language, “It could have been me”, when referring to the murders of young Iranian women since the Fall of 2022 and the hospitalization of countless Iranian girls in school through poison gas. We shared thoughts and developed some ideas she has for her thesis show next year. We hugged goodbye and as I returned up the stairs, Imka, the talented musician from the Deep Listening: Horticultural Sound Bath by Very Sad Lab with Smoke & Tea + Imka event, paused me on the stairs to introduce himself. We got caught in deep conversation.

Saturday: Evening Programming

I attended the Future Drum Circle event organized by Black Techno Matters and saw the familiar faces of Josh and Simone. I hung back and spoke to Josh about his new job as the Exhibition Director at the BlackRock Center for the Arts and his love for punk rock. As it turns out, Simone now has Josh’s former studio at MICA in the Curatorial Practice Program. I also simultaneously found out that Babette Pendleton, the Exhibition & Programming Associate at The Corcoran at GW also graduated from the same program. Small world!

He and I agreed to pause in talking to really savor what Black Techno Matters had to offer. I danced on my own, swaying to the music with my eyes closed. It was nice getting lost in the trance of it all.

Following the concert, Simone, Imka, Josh and I continued the conversation by the elevators over some abandoned free pizza. We began talking about astrology and getting increasingly closer. By this time the symposium had ended and the second floor public spaces were closed. We were welcome to go upstairs to the rooftop bar or leave. Simone and I decided to go upstairs and bonded on the dancefloor letting the music move our bodies. After hours of dancing she walked me to my car, and I let her wait with me in the car until her ride arrived. It was truly the night of liberation we had been needing.

Image still from video clip contributed by Mallory Kimmel

After a late night out, I arrived at the beginning of The Making of Fertile Ground event with Mēlani N Douglass featuring Michael Carter from Carter Farm in Orange County, VA. I walked into the all glass room and found Simone. I sat on the floor beside her with the comforting and familiar blue butterfly nervine tea Mēlani serves at each of her apothecary events I really leaned into feeling grounded and being in the moment Due to arriving at the time the event began, the room was full and I was seated in the far back of the room In truth if you are not sitting in the front of the Salon room it is hard to hear everything and my notes reflect that reality

Michael Carter is a Black farmer who specializes in Afro-agriculture He has had the farm in his family for 150 years He utilizes Afro-agricultural practices which he hosts educational resources and support for Black Farmers in the region at Carter Farm. He shared that there will be an open house event on the farm for Earth Day later this month Michael shares that he likes to walk in the garden barefoot. Being a farmer is about being in relationship with the land Farming connects people to the earth through stewardship Simone shares that although some Black Americans might want to distance themselves from the fields as a means to create spaces from the violent histories of American slavery; working with the land can be the medicine that connects the individual to the land Michael would argue that working with afro-agricultural practices helps connect him with his ancestors.

The power of America is depleting the soil. By harvesting fruit and produce prior to being ripe in order to let produce ripen in trucks and on the shelf, the produce is harvested with less and less nutrient density Ripe produce on the vine is at peak nutritional value Harvesting produce prior to ripening is a macro-agricultural practice where we (Americans) are ongoingly depleting our food of nutrients The capitalist insurgence in the American agricultural field has resulted in Amazon pattoning the invention of a pink pineapple. The produce is sold in Whole Foods Markets with the fruit crown cut off in order for customers to be unable to cultivate the patented fruit independently When food becomes not only a commodity, but also intellectual property, then it is more apparent than ever that our food source is at risk. Food sourcing awareness is paramount as it is what sustains us This further accentuates the importance of farming, and securing local food sources to ensure highly nutrient-rich foods and no capitalist dependencies. Large-scale agricultural practices utilize ground tilling Michael states that, “[the] soil is a living ecosystem” so by tilling the land it disrupts the ecosystem, depletes water retention in the soil, and mechanically kills underground life. Tilling the soil is in a sense reclaiming it; and in many cases is a form of enacting ongoing practice of conquering and reconquering the land that mimics colonization

Now, rather than lean into the exploitation of large American agricultural practices, it is time we turn and choose to gather together in local cooperation to support sustainable food access. This form of support can be called cooperative economics. Cooperative economics can be understood as gathering as an investment in the social economy of exchange and human connection; OR Forging connections and creative problem solving to help heal and mobilize the collective in a time of a global shift.

Farms were the original cooperative economic structures centered on family. Farms were building families. Having family members in the home, helping complete work, and contributing to feeding the family was a practice exercised together to nourish the soul, ancestral lineage, and the land.

Mēlani has begun a participatory project with each salon gathering where the participants are invited to write an affirmation or manifestation on a provided index card. The written affirmation is going to be used to regenerate the soil and have plants grow from the wishes and affirmations we contribute. I took the time to write the following affirmation.

Affirmation to the soil:

“I am so blessed to be living my dream life: connected to the right people, the land, the water, my ancestors, my lineage and my story.”

At the end of the program, Mēlani’s mother sang everyone a song. It was not rehearsed. It was truly her mom giving us a gift of her voice. Her time, her effort and her voice was the most honest offering. It left everyone in the space incredibly moved and in high reverence.

Sunday: Brunch

Following the talk in the brunch line Carmen introduced me to Tyler (Ty) Lackey, a graduate candidate at the Corcoran at GW. We skipped most of the nice to meet you pleasantries and were immediately in a rich exchange discussing technical applications. It felt like childhood where before you hardly say hello and before you know it you are already playing and undoubtedly friends. We continued a conversation around rope making and the idea of how to cast a bronze sculpture of rope over the brunch buffet two-way line, maintaining eye contact with one another whilst collecting our respective brunch plates.

Ty and I comfortably parted ways. I bravely sat at a nearly empty table at the far side of the room and I soon was joined by multiple GW faculty where I met Tina Villadolid; a graduate candidate at the Corcoran at GW. She and I immediately connected. We actually had a hard time pausing our conversation momentum when we heard Prem addressing the group.

As we all near the end of brunch, Prem hops up on the stage sock-footed as always, perfectly coordinating the color of his socks to the exact color and shade of his T-shirts to prompt the group in one final activity reflecting on the symposium as a whole. Each participant has pens, markers and sticky notes at their tables. We were asked to answer the following three questions on three separate sticky notes so they will be placed on the corresponding boards on the stage.

1. What worked this weekend?

2. What did not work?

3. What to do differently next time?

Prem later synthesizes and reads the gist of the responses for each question.

There is a special sense of intimacy in the room as those who had gotten tickets and did not feel resonate with the group had left over the course of the symposium resulting in the group that stayed that felt transformed in the process. Those who stayed were the most grateful, present and conscientious group I had been fortunate to be a part of. It really showed all of us in the room that by looking around the space these people are my people. Together we have found what it means to gather now in a meaningful way where we have each been met with and extended kindness to the other to feed the needs of our minds, bodies, and spirits. Surprisingly enough the word symposium that I was adverse to before as the sense of a business networking congregation became the most intimate friendship forming time of my life not to mention in the most succinct time frame. This experience has shown me I am safe among these people physically and emotionally. It also gave me the peace of mind that I am safe in my career given that these are my peers and my contemporaries.

What worked this weekend?

-making friends

-bonding

-healing through time together

-having the ability to break away when we want to

-seeing familiar and new faces

-playing together

-laughing and crying together

-having a symposium be far more than any symposium

-joy

-eating together

-bravery

-healing our spirits

-no shoes

-gender neutral restrooms

-sharing stories and books-try

-drinking tea sitting on the floor-be honest

-operating as people; not just colleagues

-organizers were participants

-the eaton hotel

-breaking from the mundane life of errands and work

-playing table games -rest-be honest

-do differently

-holding space to listen

What did not work?

What to do dierently next time?

Sticky note images contributed by Mallory Kimmel

Following the shared sticky note activity, those who wanted to share personal stories and reflections on the microphone spoke up one by one. We each had the opportunity to reflect and share the special impact this event gave us. Nathalie shared with the group that what keeps us safe is joy; and this event centered on joy and wellness.

Image contributed by WPA

Prem now with the microphone stands before us misty-eyed and tells us to honor our dreams and the dreams you have with other people. He shares that this symposium began with a question he and Asad had on a walk two years ago and here we all are now. How can we gather now? He shares that “We did not have an answer to this question”. Prem reminds the group that this gathering is only a rehearsal and that we can do it again. There is air about this comment that leaves space for others to be the author(s) of future gatherings.

The closing song, Drift Away by Dobie Gray, was played for us to rejoice following the conclusion of sharing our final words of gratitude and reflection. When we gather we dance together, sing together, clean up together, and leave together. The end in some ways started to dawn on me and I once again was met with a sense of F.O.M.O. wanting to track down those leaving I have yet to meet and try to exchange information. In the same sense of wanting to chase them down, I also don’t want to feel frenzied and force these connections. I share these conflicting urges with a table of people some of which I know, others I don’t. This individual, Grace Dewitt, shares with me that we could enlist the help of WPA to create a working document that they share with participants to bridge the gap of these missed connections. No sooner did she say that, I walked away to find Jordan Martin who works for WPA, and brought her over to meet Grace, and just like that the idea became reality. There are now multiple cloud-based documents with the consenting attendees’ contact information, artist websites, and other supportive resource-sharing.

Following the close I felt so good I didn’t want to leave. I hung back and assisted Mēlani and her family packing up the Salon apothecary as I was not ready for the positive exchange to end. I wanted to still be of service; to see my servitude resonate with the other and feel in a peaceful way, continually a part of a larger system.

Reflection

In life, we rarely are given the time to reflect and rarely do we allow ourselves the time to sit with our previous experiences Thankfully with Dirt’s flexibility and patience, I have had the time to sit with this experience to provide both a review and a reflection worth the wait

The symposium was an atmosphere to simply exist in a designed experience We were provided the chance to heal our spirits, re-imagine art-making and curating for new-world-building as well as reconvene in an intimate social gathering after an unimaginable global pandemic The action packed weekend provided everyone the opportunity to mingle and engage with so many people; maybe not by former standards, however we had not been around that many people in terms of quantity and duration for years We normally hustle and bustle around between jobs, errands and art shows so to sit and gather at a full length weekend symposium really allowed for deep connections to form as we knew we would see one another again soon and pick back up where we left off The level of sustained kindness and consideration afforded to strangers that we would soon speak to permitted behavior like smiling across the room at someone or in the Eaton DC lobby area recognizing the fact that we both wore the symposium name tags I knew in a sense that I was safe to be vulnerable with the other name tag wearer’s’ presence even if I had not talked to that person yet because the container of this space has essentially created a tribe, as one person had called it, that allowed us to trust everyone in the group as we trusted the network of people Therefore I could be brave in my hellos and smiles and sharing of personal stories as the people I know and cherish know and cherish this person- even if I have yet to meet them This rapid development of a rich social fabric really made this event so successful.

The symposium centered the experience of joy and wellness One participant stated that to combat fear only joy can be triumphant. During the symposium we fostered joy together with the development of a social economy We were healed through the cooperative spirit that makes a community and the warmth of quality time The time away from this experience has given all participants the opportunity to find ways to integrate these communal social practices in our communities, classrooms and studios What we are left with is a community-memory; an ethereal important moment where together we created a speculative reality of hope.

Together we house a collective knowledge bank. This review exists as one part of the collective knowledge bank; as a piece of a collective memory I have written my phenomenological account of the symposium and I hope it in many cases provided those who were unable to attend the opportunity to experience the symposium second hand; and for those who attended I hope it helps preserve your memory and contribute to archiving the shared experience During the development and ideation of the

symposium, Mēlani Douglass shared the abbreviated quote from Sue Mobley, the Director of Monument Lab that stated, “There is no way to hold memory singularly… and call that truth We have to do that in collaboration, we have to do it together And that work is hard.” I am but only one person who attended this event and my story is one of many I took the time to write this review in order to offer a written account as one piece of the collective memory as an offering to our collective knowledge bank So much collective knowledge was shared and not documented which in essence made being in the presence of others and bearing witness to each other’s genius so powerful; and in duality, it left little to show for the aftermath of what was collectively achieved Our memories lose their definition over time and we are only left with the event ephemera, emotional resonance and the relationships we forged It takes all of us to hold the collective memory and for us to gather again in multiple formats to continue holding the memory and investing in its lineage.

I will pose the question of the symposium title again, how can we gather now? And the answer is together Only together can we find our way forward

Simple enough, though that is the answer and as artists we will continue to iterate and create new forms to do just that Imagine if we regularly gathered for walks amongst this group The questions and future programming would continue to change us and the world for the better.

Image contributed by organizing artists for event research. Image credits can be found https://www are na/channel/how-can-we-gather-now

Born out of the pandemic and the human need for connection, the significance of social exchange through coming together has become invaluable.

The experimental symposium, How Can We Gather Now?, has created an oasis and the space to develop meaningful connections. But what are connections if we let them fade?

Gathering as practice is the next call to action. How can we create a practice of gathering situated around sustaining a ritual of coming together to sustain group momentum and solidify community? Image contributed by organizing artists. Intellectual property of @intelligentmischief

Everyday life in developed modernized societies is shaped by productivity and making money to survive. This places recreation, ritual, self-care and community practices as the pass-time activities that get scheduled in the cracks between deadlines and life obligations. How might we carve out time in our busy schedules to engage in pleasure and who is to say we cannot work and derive pleasure and solidarity in our community all at once? Community in tandem with life rather than in opposition is our way forward.

Medicine making through routines, human contact, physical touch, laughter and tea can be any of many forms of ritual we indulge in and share together. Holding space for individual and shared grief as well as joy will help us facilitate community, create intersectional groups and make the time and space to heal. We as artists and people ought to actively engage in a process of remembering how to meet one another through compassionate acts of kindness and tenderness. I suggest practicing presence with one another in this overwhelming world. By taking the time to actively listen to each other, we are giving people the opportunity to feel heard and understood.

Gathering as healing is the act of putting ourselves in a group that helps heal us. For others to carry the conversation, to lead when we are not ready, to follow with respect, to sit in reverence and to disagree politely. You do not need to show up dressed to impress, nor do you need to emotionally carry the group. We can simply gather together, as ourselves as one.

Legacy

The How Can We Gather Now? Symposium was the opportunity for creative people to enter in a communion of meaning-making, solidarity, and seeding connections for future collaborations. I wonder what will come from this event. What new collaborations, symposiums, healing workshops, curated exhibitions and new educational forms will inform our work and the lives of those we touch Much like looking at the legacy of a skilled educator or educational institution; we can see how the pedagogy, application of materials and ethos of the program inform the work of those educated by those people and institutions This space will undoubtedly shape our work and I greatly look forward to seeing how the premise of gathering shifts my work and those of my peers.

Below is a list of events that followed the symposium that I attended with other symposium attendees. Together we have begun sustaining gathering as a practice. We have applied many techniques we have learned from the symposium and we have shown support to our new friendships forged through this experience and created collective dreams together This list is just the beginning and in many senses are legacy programs born out of this symposium

4/5 Carmen organized an in-person reflection gathering the Wednesday following the symposium The GW group of faculty, adjunct faculty and graduate students came together to reflect on what we learned and how we might apply these experiences to the classroom We shared a collective desire to continue to meet each other in a similar fashion, attending events such as the Black Farmer Wisdom/Learning Circle upcoming event at Carter Farm and attending a dinner party hosted by Sioban Rigg.

4/22 Carmen, Ty and myself went to Carter farm for the Black Farmer Wisdom/Learning Circle to continue in this fashion of staying connected, fostering ongoing gathering and meeting other people where they are Michael hosted an event on his family property of 150 acres in Unionville, Virginia to support Black farmers and discuss pressing contemporary issues regarding nutritional depletion of cultivated crops in America Participants and farmers alike were invited to present farming technical applications to support soil nutrient enrichment and how to develop a niche market for international crops to support Black Farmers making commercial deals with local buyers

5/4 I attended the Corcoran at GW Next exhibition the first week of May witnessing the exhibition work from symposium attendees: Ty, Dajana Douglass,Tina and Vanessa Chen. I connected with Tina at her exhibition of In the Presence of Savage Women, and we discussed the ritual elements of her work and the beautiful layers of botanical aromas incorporated in her installation She then invited me to her upcoming artist talk, where she wanted me to meet her mother.

5/9 I invited Ama to see the Next exhibition with me. We caught up and I heard about her upcoming Artist in Residence opportunity at WPA this summer.

5/18 Tina hosted an artist talk at her solo show, I Am An Archipelago, at Gallery 102 on the George Washington University Foggy Bottom Campus. The gathering audience sat in the space in a circle witnessing her share her story and let her family share theirs as well. It was a true pleasure meeting her 96 year old mother.

5/24 I attended the Artists’ Tea Salon with Mēlani Douglass event at George Washington University which was a collaborative project led by Ty and Mēlani. The event would not have been possible without the help from Carmen who helped secure funding and GW staff member Natasha Bailey who reserved the Salon Doré room to host the gathering. Ty shared a musical performance and Mēlani facilitated an apothecary centered around fostering community and unpacking the politics of the space. The symposium attendees in attendance were Carmen, Ty, Mēlani, Tina and Dajana.

6/8 I had a virtual studio visit with Kalaija Mallery, the Executive and Artistic Director at The Luminary. She gave me the space to share my practice following a former conversation at the symposium and we now agree to call and share long talks together.

6/10 I met with Simone at Charles Village Tavern. We discussed life since the symposium and her developing body of work building towards her thesis work for her upcoming MFA in Curatorial practice exhibition. I had the luxury of meeting her son and sharing space with her as an artist, mother and friend.

6/19 Meeting with Carmen at The GW Smith Art Building, Carmen and I connected and walked to a nearby coffee shop catching up on life following the end of the Spring semester. Carmen will soon be teaching the course I taught last month, so we were meeting to exchange course lesson materials and professional advice. Carmen shared with me her professional application materials and reviewed my most recent cover letter to support one another.

7/5 I submitted a public art proposal to The Community College of Baltimore County for an outdoor classroom space to foster community gathering, rest, and equitable learning. The project has received departmental approval and is awaiting grant funding.

7/27 Ama hosted an artist panel for her solo artist in residency at WPA called, We (too) Grow On Water. The event was virtual and hosted African artists and artists of African descent reflecting on migration, home, belonging and relocating. Letting the flow of life take you and tending to the land to cultivate a deep sense of connection to self.

We will continue to gather together and I will certainly be in attendance for the next Washington Project for the Arts symposium. I would not miss it for the world.

Symposium Weekend Suggested Reading List