Rehearsal 2

A workshop for writers, artists, makers. Bhavani Srinivas, ‘20, a Senior in the Visual Arts Program, and Somi Jun, ‘20, a Senior in the Department of Comparative Literature and the Program in Creative Writing, will guide discussion exploring the possibility of definable, ethical approaches to art involving identity and experience. Princeton Arts Fellow Nyssa Chow will frame the workshop with her experience as an oral historian and interdisciplinary artist.

Somi and Bhavani offer several propositions for consideration:  

when artists represent identities not their own, they risk undermining the voices of people telling their own stories; the boundaries between inspiration, representation, and erasure can quickly dissolve when dealing with another person or community’s lived experience, resulting in co-optation and/or appropriation;  it is possible to be influenced by others’ experiences without co-opting, appropriating, or erasing them.   

Somi and Bhavani ask that participants come to this workshop with a project or work of their own, to consider in the context of these propositions. Participants should come ready to surface problems faced in their own work, present counter-arguments, or offer new propositions.  

Cecilia Vicuña’s Chancanni Quipu will act as an entry point for thinking critically about who has the authority to speak to marginalized experiences. 

This event will take place in the Ancient Americas Precept Room (in the Museum's lower level).

Related Object: Chanccani Quipu