TFI Memory Lab + Exhibition Opening Night. June 15th, 6 pm - 8 pm.
Join us at the opening reception for our collaboration with Pen + Brush for Who's afraid of feminist archives?
The Feminist Institute’s Pop-Up Memory Lab and Exhibition at Pen + Brush is now open.
Who’s afraid of feminist archives? An exhibition from June 15 - July 15, 2023
Image: Betsy Damon, 7,000 Year Old Woman, performance on Prince Street, New York, May 21, 1977, no. 2
Please join TFI for the opening reception of Who’s afraid of feminist archives? on June 15th at Pen + Brush from 6 pm - 8 pm.
The show is curated by Monika Fabijanska, in collaboration with Helena Shaskevich, and shows the role of feminist communities where mutual support made it possible for women to become artists in the 1970s New York. It accompanies The Feminist Institute Memory Lab and presents the importance of feminist archives.
In the beginning, there was nothing: until very recently, women had no place in official art history, no record, and no role models to look up to if they wanted to play a role in public life. At the time when the generation of the Second Wave feminists is getting old, their archives become the matter of emergency art history. They hold stories of women who, unable to support a studio practice or even dream about a gallery representation, came together in various communities and created an environment to make and show their art.
For artists like Betsy Damon, Dindga McCannon, Joan Logue, and Pat Lehman, community was crucial for survival and making art: a lesbian artists community, a black women community, or that of women video and filmmakers. Their agendas varied significantly, yet all had the same common ground: the empowerment of women.
The Memory Lab
Alongside the exhibition, TFI’s Pop-Up Memory Lab is opening, which aligns with TFI’s primary goal to increase access to feminist materials and empower individuals to preserve their analog and digital legacies by offering our archival services to the public.
The Memory Lab is open for archival consultations with the TFI staff from 12 pm - 6 pm Thursday- Saturday. During your meeting, TFI staff help you digitize materials and discuss what you want to do with your collection.
Throughout the month that the Memory Lab is open, TFI will be hosting a series of workshops on personal digital archiving, ethical digitization considerations, and feminist legacy planning.
For more information, please visit thefeministinstitute.org or email partnerships@thefeministinstitute.org