“Between Two Worlds” at NoMüNoMü
This extraordinary presentation of activist artwork and ephemera, “Between Two Worlds,” is the inaugural present at collective NoMüNoMü’s new exhibition area in Baltimore. NoMüNoMü, in keeping with its web site, is “an intersectional arts collaborative working to problem the perpetual methods of oppression inside and past the artwork world” by becoming a member of forces with “artists + grassroots organizations on the intersections of race, age, gender and orientation.” That profound sense of objective suffuses the present, curated by artist, activist, and NoMüNoMü chief Joseph Orzal, who initially began his enterprise from his personal front room in Washington, DC.
“Between Two Worlds” features a huge array of posters and prints from artists, activists, and collectives who’re making work that imagines a unified world anti-imperialist motion. Among the many extra well-known choices on show—such because the posters Loss of life to the Fascist Pigs and Amerikkka, each 1970, created by the Black Panther Occasion’s minister of tradition, Emory Douglas—are contributions by eleven artists from the worker-owned cooperative Justseeds; twenty-two posters from the Group of Solidarity with the Individuals of Asia, Africa and Latin America (OSPAAAL), which originated in Havana, and unique poster artwork from Gayle “Asali” Dickson, the Black Panthers’ sole lady graphic artist. The poster depicts a Black baby leaning towards a decrepit radiator, clutching a pamphlet advocating for the 1973 elections of fellow Panthers Bobby Seale (for mayor of Oakland, California) and Elaine Brown (for metropolis councilwoman). On a close-by wall on this illustration is an advert for a luxurious house with a cockroach crawling beneath it. The textual content on the high of the poster—as if it’s the kid’s phrases—reads “Final evening I dreamt all my buddies came to visit to see my new room and play in my yard. However I sleep within the kitchen with my sisters and there are rats within the lot out again.” In Baltimore, a metropolis the place so many artists discover energy and freedom of their craft, the present proves that artwork is for everybody, particularly when used as a device to have an effect on social and political change.
An added layer of depth and that means is supplied by a curated assortment of greenery—supplied by Stem & Vine, a Black-owned plant store in Baltimore—indigenous to the areas of the artists whose works are on view. The flora—representing Asia, India, Mexico, and Pakistan, amongst different locations—reinforces a residing connection to those areas’ ecosystems whereas subtly commenting on the consequences of imperialism and colonialism all through the globe. Certainly, “Between Two Worlds” is a difficult and beneficiant providing that exists in a wealthy area of activism and artwork, historical past and hope.
— Teri Henderson
