JEMAGWGA Gwylene Gallimard & Jean-Marie Maucletjemagwga@gmail.com
conNECKted
Explore the works of conNECKted: IMAGININGS for TRUTH & RECONCILIATION, pictures, and writings
HERE
“conNECKted: Imaginings for Truth & Reconciliation”
We started in 2013 with our collective of teachers, artist and activists, reading the “Partnership for Prosperity” pamphlet, an urban development project for the next 40 years of Charleston. We organized Learning Exchanges, led by members of Alternate ROOTS.
Our first collective question was: Partnership with whom? Prosperity for whom?
From there, as if the field of our questioning leads us unmistakably from housing to education, to violence, to climate, back to justice, we realized that such connectivity of issues were not drawing a vicious circle but an ever-widening path to action.
It is the process “conNECKted” went through, during its short but intense history, which made it obvious that, although our goal is to promote social and economic justice for all in Charleston, nothing would change without a bridge built between the past of a society deeply divided around race, class, geography, education, justice and a future founded on
equal rights, equal opportunities, equal respect.
Interviewing Charlestonians affected by development and displacement, videotaping young students as they ask burning questions calling for burning answers, meeting with tiny business owners at the forefront of multiple community struggles, triggered the “conNECKted” quest to amplify the voices of those absent from the public debate.
For the open presentation of “conNECKted” at the City Gallery at Waterfront Park this 2017 summer, we are focusing on the following topics: Experiencing Gentrification; InterconNECKtivity; Belonging/Cultural Impact/Art & Activism.
During public sessions at the gallery, those issues are approached using strictly dialogic formats like Questions/Relay, Story Circles, Critical Response.
The City Gallery is the place where Art, Education, and Activism intersect and take the shape of multiform installations. In their midst, we will imagine the future of diverse communities of Charleston, strengthen our universal sense of belonging and appropriate a future of hope and peace. We call such an enterprise IMAGININGS FOR TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION, “the truth of history and the reconciliation of memories.”
The closing day of the public presentations is called “The Launching.” Only because it will be when and where the Arts in/with Community may prove to be a common source of possible dreams.
Experiencing Gentrification: https://youtu.be/9XGemK2jXiA
InterconNECKtivity: https://youtu.be/IgAlmgJ7-KE
“ConNECKted: Imaginings for Truth and Reconciliation.”
*All events are held at the City Gallery at Waterfront Park, 34 Prioleau Street, Charleston, SC 29401 FREE and OPEN to the public* GALLERY HOURS: Tuesday- Friday: 10AM-6PM (unless otherwise noted) Saturday/Sunday: 12PM-5PM (unless otherwise noted) EVERY SATURDAY 10am-12pm: A series “Imaginings for Truth & …” with the “conNECKted” team facilitating with George Hopkins, Omari Fox, Cara Ernst, Pastor Dixon, Carlton Turner,
GALLERY HOURS: Tuesday- Friday: 10AM-6PM (unless otherwise noted) Saturday/Sunday: 12PM-5PM (unless otherwise noted)
EVERY SATURDAY 10am-12pm: A series “Imaginings for Truth & …” with the “conNECKted” team facilitating with George Hopkins, Omari Fox, Cara Ernst, Pastor Dixon, Carlton Turner, Loquita Jenkins Every SATURDAY evening, meet the “conNECKted” team for dinner at a different participating restaurant: Island Breeze (Mosquito Beach), Fast & French (Broad St), Hannibal (EastSide), …
Every SATURDAY evening, meet the “conNECKted” team for dinner at a different participating restaurant: Island Breeze (Mosquito Beach), Fast & French (Broad St), Hannibal (EastSide), …
See Calendar above for a full listing of dates and activities.
IN THE MEDIA:
______________________________________________________________________________
2017: Have a great year! Is this possible?
TRUST AND ……………………………..?
“conNECKted” craves for so much: it wishes for its roots to be anchors of hope, for its seeds to be full of questions, for its blooms to welcome action, for its fallen leaves and petals to generate a new soil.
This summer – JULY 21-AUGUST 29 – “conNECKted” will install unique cultural spaces at the CITY GALLERY AT WATERFRONT PARK (beside Pineapple Fountain) and other sites, allowing conversations, events and improvisations around issues of:
. Preservation of Housing for Locals,
. Sustainability of Tiny Businesses,
. Collective Memories of Charleston,
. Anti-racism where Racism is not recognized,
. Shared Resources for Public Schools and Arts in/with Community.
What kind of exchanges / social changes may these mean for artists, educators, activists and citizens working together?
Interested? Longing to belong? E-mail, fb, or give us a call.
conNECKted22@gmail.com Gwylene/Jean-Marie 843-607-5811/723-1018 La’Sheia 843-408-5576 Pam 843-864-5728 Debra 843-469-9527 (fb) conNECKted conNECKted.yolasite.com
The CHARLESTON RHIZOME COLLECTIVE is an art-in/with community group, where education, art and activism intersect.
By design we are grassroots, inter-generational and inter-racial.
Through the arts we amplify the voices of neighborhoods absent from public and private plans: social, cultural and economic.
We envision communities where issues of exclusion and inequities in Economics, Housing, Education and Business no longer exist.
For us belonging means celebrating all histories and cultures as we build a future together.
May 2015. “conNECKted” on Youtube tells you why nine of us are developing this project.
by THE CHARLESTON RHIZOME COLLECTIVE
“conNECKted”
REAL[ISM] ESTATE[ISM]
DEVELOPMENT[ISM]
SELECTION[ISM]
EXCLUSION[ISM]
The “conNECKted” project is an attempt to amplify the voices of the neighborhoods toward being part of the conversation concerning displacement of communities.
“conNECKted”, an art-in-community project,
amplifies the voices of challenged neighborhoods,
opposes the planned displacement of minorities and the
poor, the whitewashing of common memories.
After the Mother Emmanuel AME massacre, if Charleston is
of one voice, HOW CAN IT NOT SUPPORT minority
businesses, integrated neighborhoods and affordable
housing for all, the earnest desegregation of school,
a city where families scarred by gun violence can heal?
BELONGING means celebrating all histories,
building a future together.
conNECKted22@gmail.com
KC 843-276-6399
What is your history in your neighborhood?
What do you envision as a perfect neighborhood?
How offended are you by the harassment to sell your place or move away?
How offended are you by the way people speak about your neighborhood? your school? your family?
What would you like to pass on to your children? …
CONTACT US
The Charleston Rhizome Collective
of Alternate ROOTS
conNECKted22@gmail.com
Thank you so much.
From the “ISMS” show at The AVERY RESEARCH CENTER, Charleston SC.