Speakers: Alejandra Garcia, Maria Garcia, and Lorena Garcia of Tres Hermanas Garden
Chef: Olive Tree Catering, Ibtisam Masto
Welcome will be having a Cincinnati’s Table at the Contemporary Arts Center for this year’s FotoFocus Symposium.
FotoFocus has partnered with Creative Time for The Convening, a special series of public talks and performances in Cincinnati, featuring artists, critics, curators, and other distinguished guest speakers. A welcome event and performance will take place at Mecca on Friday, October 20, 2023, followed by a full day of discussions held at two venues: the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center and the Contemporary Arts Center, on Saturday, October 21, 2023.
Structured loosely around three earth-based thematics—land, waterways, and trees—The Convening will bring together national and local artists, activists, and thinkers whose work considers histories of land, particularly American histories that coalesce in the Cincinnati region. Through discussions, workshops, and performances, participants will explore issues of land sovereignty, access, and stewardship as well as the histories and enduring legacies of forced migration in the United States. The Convening is a significant collaborative effort designed to discuss thinking about land-use and self-determination through contemporary art practices, including photography.
The Convening is a prelude to the forthcoming Charles Gaines’ multi-city public art project, The American Manifest, culminating in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 2024. Commissioned by New York-based Creative Time with support from Cincinnati-based FotoFocus, The American Manifest is a series of monumentally-scaled works spanning multiple sites in New York City and Cincinnati, from 2022 through 2024.
The Convening is free and open to the public. Full Symposium Schedule and Symposium Participants.
Creative Time and FotoFocus are grateful to The Convening’s supporting partners:
21c Museum Hotel
Contemporary Arts Center
National Underground Railroad Freedom Center
Terra Foundation for American Art
Wave Pool/Welcome Project
The Well