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With support from Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation, Giving Up The Ghost: Artifacts/A Study of Power and Solidarity Against White Violence in Modernity curated by Niama Safia Sandy will open at Rush Arts Philadelphia on January 27, 2018. Giving Up The Ghost is an assemblage of multimedia art objects that challenge and explore the very tangible, non-ephemeral effects of American exceptionalism and whiteness as they appear in the living history of the modern world. The exhibition will run from January 27 through February 24, 2018 at Rush Arts Philadelphia (located at 4954 Old York Road in Logan). An opening reception will be held on Saturday January 27, 4:00-7:00 p.m. An artist talk will be held on Saturday, February 17 at 4:00-6:00 p.m. Gallery hours are Wednesday – Saturday, 12:00 -6:00 p.m. and by appointment.

The exhibition features artists from a range of backgrounds and disciplines including: Lavett Ballard, Tasha Dougé, Sara Jimenez, Asif Mian, Rocío Olivares, Tajh Rust and Lionel Frazier White. The works in this show seek to proclaim the truth and validity of the experiences of marginalized groups in this country and its global sphere of influence. Sara Jimenez’s textual sculptures pull from the legacy of American colonization of the Philippines and Puerto Rico highlighting the subsequent effects on the indigeneity of the native populations. The works of Lavett Ballard and Tasha Dougé parse through our historical aversion to recognizing the importance Black American labor (that of Black women in particular) to the very corporeal, economic and political pillars of this country. Asif Mian’s installation is in direct response to the current president’s virulent anti-Muslim policies and a general commentary on the place of violence in modern society.

“It is not lost on us that this exhibition is opening just over a year to the day since the country was pitched into a period of unprecedented political and cultural turmoil. The work in the show endeavors to examine the undercurrents that allowed for the events of the last year (and well beyond) to be put into motion. This is not an attack on white people or any other group. We are collectively acknowledging that we are unmoored (and have been for quite some time) from the ideals purported to be the foundational aspects of our democracy. To heal and move forward as a nation, we must let go of the ideas that do not match who we say we are and earnestly investigate what has been done in our name as citizens of this country.” curator Niama Safia Sandy explained.

This engagement is Sandy’s curatorial debut in Philadelphia, and second project with Rush Arts.