Curation
See the And Then virtual gallery at the Agitator website.
In August 2020, Agitator Co-operative Gallery decided to move out of a physical space until we better understand how to deal with the virus. The gallery supports itself primarily through member dues and audience donations, and donations depend on gallery attendance. We decided we could neither ask our members to fully support expenses, nor ask our audience to continue gathering in a small indoor space.
The October 2020 exhibit, And Then: Stories About What Happens Next, was Agitator’s first exhibit since leaving our physical space. And Then is both a printed book and virtual gallery of art, poems, fiction, and essays about our visions of the future. What do we hope for? What do we fear? What do we think it will take to get there?
Lockdown, distancing, quarantine. Protests demanding justice long overdue. Progress, setbacks, dreams and nightmares all being realized right before our eyes. Some of us stayed at home, some of us were in the streets, some of us couldn't do either. Some us had more time to ourselves; many of us had a lot less. All of us were thinking about changes, how they are changing us, and how they would change our future.
Both the book and the virtual gallery include the work of over forty artists and writers. The participants include emerging artists, career creatives, and first-time creators. The online exhibit includes all the visual art and writing from the book, plus video selections, and audio files of the writers reading their own work. We mailed many copies of the first edition of And Then to our audience, and (safely) hand delivered many more by gallery member-powered bike courier.
And Then is an invited contribution to Documenting Contemporary Social Life Shaped by the Covid-19 Pandemic and Racial Justice Movements, an ongoing collections initiative of the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago.