DPI @ Photoville 2018
cit-i-zen-ship: reflections on rights by teen photographers
Photo: David Villanueva
Exhibition runs September 13 – 16 and September 20 – 23, 2018
Container 4, Brooklyn Bridge Plaza, DUMBO
The Department of Photography & Imaging at NYU Tisch School of the Arts, in collaboration with United Photo Industries and For Freedoms, presents cit.i.zen.ship: reflections on rights by teen photographers with photographs, collages, and videos by approximately 50 high school students from across the U.S. that speak directly to the current moment that students, educators, and artists alike are experiencing and responding to.
More than 50 years after the passage of the Civil Rights Act, a new sense of purpose is vibrating throughout our nation, prompting individuals to mobilize for societal change. These young artists and activists use various symbolic references to visually represent issues surrounding civil rights, resistance, environmental issues, immigration, race, class, gender, LGBTQ+ rights, gentrification, voting rights, disability rights, freedom of speech and more. High school students are not only responding to and engaging with human rights and social justice issues but also paving the way for future narratives.
cit.i.zen.ship: reflections on rights by teen photographers is part of the For Freedoms' 50 State Initiative, a new phase of For Freedoms programming to encourage broad participation and inspire conversation around November’s midterm elections. Building off of the existing artistic infrastructure in the United States, For Freedoms has developed a network of over 300 artists and 200 institutional partners who will produce nationwide public art installations, exhibitions and local community dialogues in order to inject nuanced, artistic thinking into public discourse. Centered around the vital work of artists, For Freedoms hopes that these exhibitions and related projects will model how arts institutions can become civic forums for action and discussion of values, place, and patriotism.
Photoville, on the Brooklyn Waterfront, is built from repurposed shipping containers, combining photo exhibitions, outdoor photo installations, talks, workshops, and nighttime multimedia events in the Beer Garden in Brooklyn Bridge Park. It runs from September 13-16 and 20-23, 2018 and is FREE for everyone to attend and enjoy!
The Department of Photography and Imaging at the Tisch School of the Arts is a four-year B.F.A. program centered on the making and understanding of images. Students explore photo-based imagery as personal and cultural expression. Situated within New York University, the program offers students both the intensive focus of an arts curriculum and a serious and broad grounding in the liberal arts.
For Freedoms is a platform for greater participation in the arts and in civil society, producing exhibitions, installations, public programs, and billboard campaigns to advocate for inclusive civic participation. Inspired by American artist Norman Rockwell’s paintings of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms (1941)—freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear— For Freedoms Federation uses art to encourage and deepen public explorations of freedom in the 21st century. Founded by Hank Willis Thomas and Eric Gottesman, For Freedoms Federation encourages new forms of critical discourse. The mission is to use art as a vehicle to build greater participation in American Democracy.
