State of Integration: Decolonizing Appearance

About

This large group exhibition is curated by visual culture theorist Nicholas Mirzoeff from New York University. Decolonizing Appearance is the work of asking questions. What does decolonizing look like? How do the colonized and the colonizer appear to each other? How can the colonized have the right to look, the right to be seen – in short, the right to appear? Decolonization is not a metaphor. It is not a matter for art alone. The work on the walls in this exhibition resonates with conversations in the space, in the Trampoline House refugee justice community center where it is housed, in Copenhagen and beyond.

As nationalism, racism, and xenophobia claim to be the 'common sense' of the global now, it is vital to continue to imagine other presents and possible futures. And to live in them. What would happen when appearance is decolonized? To whom can we appear? By what means? Who is that 'we'? What has to happen for decolonizing to take place where you live?

Decolonizing Appearance brings together collectives and individuals working on these questions in different ways in photography, video, installation, and text. The work addresses issues from Gaza to the Caribbean, Africa, the United States, and Denmark. It is not just something to see, it is something to do, from painting murals and making banners to decolonizing assemblies and workshops. Click here to read more.