The Racial Imaginary Institute : On Whiteness

“If whiteness gains currency by being unnoticed, then what does it mean to notice whiteness?” (Sara Ahmed, The Phenomenology of Whiteness) The Racial Imaginary Institute is excited to announce “On Whiteness,” an exhibition, performance residency, symposium and city-wide biennial that seeks to create collaborative spaces to mark and question whiteness, challenging its dominance as it operates through default positions in cultural behavior. All programs will be free and open to the public, but two events will require free advance tickets since seating will be extremely limited: Symposium, June 30, 10:30-–5:30: Tickets available June 11th at 2 pm here The Dark Noise Collective, July 20, 7pm: Tickets available July 16th at 2pm here   On Whiteness: Exhibition and Residency June 27-August 3 Opening reception: June 27, 6–8pm Gallery hours: Monday–Friday, 11–6pm FREE and open to the public. In collaboration with The Kitchen, TRII has co-curated a group exhibition and residency that aims to disorient bodies habituated to spaces of white dominance. The exhibition features work from Josh Begley, Paul Chan, Mel Chin, Ja’Tovia Gary, Ken Gonzales-Day, Titus Kaphar, Baseera Khan, Seung-Min Lee, Glenn Ligon, Mores McWreath, Sandeep Mukherjee, Native Art Department International, Toyin Ojih Odutola, Tim Rollins and K.O.S., Cindy Sherman, Rodrigo Valenzuela, and Anicka Yi. There will also be residencies from Vijay Iyer, Dark Noise Collective, Jackie Sibbles-Drury and performances from Marguerite Hemmings, Angie Pittman, and Seung Min Lee. For further details and a schedule of accompanying performances, please visit The Kitchen website.   On Whiteness: A Symposium June 30, 10am–6pm FREE and open to the public, but RSVP required Tickets extremely limited, available starting June 11th at 2 pm here The Racial Imaginary Institute presents a day-long interactive symposium at The Kitchen on the phenomenology, distortions, and diagnostics of white-dominated space, featuring keynote addresses, panel discussions, and a musical performance. The proceedings will include speeches by The Future of Whiteness author Linda Alcoff, historian and artist Nell Painter, and legal scholar and The Alchemy of Race and Rights author Patricia Williams. Chris Chen will moderate a morning panel on cultural representation and appropriation with Jeff Chang, Aruna D'Souza, Sarah Lewis, Daniel Borzutsky, and Doreen St. Felix. In the afternoon, Rizvana Bradley will moderate a panel focusing on empathy and likeability in the context of white dominance with Lauren Berlant, Sadhana Bery, Jane Caflisch, Lori Gruen, and Saidiya Hartman. Vijay Iyer will also perform as the conclusion of his residency The What of the World, which will be followed by a discussion with fellow MacArthur Fellows Claudia Rankine and Patricia Williams. For a full schedule please visit The Kitchen website.    Biennial June 27 - August 3, Various venues across New York City In conjunction with its programming at The Kitchen, the Racial Imaginary Institute has issued an open invitation to cultural institutions to create programming that critically self-reflects on the way whiteness manifests into their institutional practices. These feature talks, exhibitions, film series, and artistic engagements created by partner organizations:  47 Canal BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music) Helena Anrather Gallery Jack Shainman Gallery Morgan Library Museum of Chinese in America New Museum Recess Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture Studio Museum in Harlem The Whitney Museum of American Art For program details and a full schedule please visit the biennial page on The Racial Imaginary Institute website.  Contributions from individuals make the Racial Imaginary Institute's work possible. To support the "On Whiteness" exhibition and symposium and TRII's ongoing work, donate here: