Memory of Oblivion
Artists: Farideh Sakhaeifar, Tessa Mars, Gabriel Hernández Serrato, Marianna Peragallo
Opening Reception: Thursday, October 12, 7:00 – 9:00 pm
Dates: October 12 – October 25, 2017
Location : CP Projects Space, 132 West 21st Street, 10th floor, New York, NY
Time: Monday – Friday, 10:00 am – 6:00 pm, weekends by appointment
CP Projects Space at the School of Visual Arts is pleased to present Memory of Oblivion, curated by MA Curatorial Practice fellow María Sáenz.
Memory of Oblivion creates a paradoxical dialogue by juxtaposing the concepts of memory and oblivion. “Memory” comes from the Latin word memoria and is understood as the human capacity to remember, to recollect, to be conscious. Whereas “oblivion” comes from the Latin word oblivio, and is referred as the state of forgetting. For the French author Marc Augé, memory and oblivion are intertwined. He states: “memory is crafted by oblivion as the outlines of the shore are created by the sea.” This exhibition makes visible the loss of memory in contemporary societies and raises questions about how cultural narratives are shaped by this reality. In the context of a global social reconstruction, this exhibition is a call to action to create social awareness and prevent the suppression of memory from continuing to happen. In this light, it is worth recalling the philosopher George Santayana’s phrase: “Those who don’t remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
Memory of Oblivion features works by Farideh Sakhaeifar (Iran), Gabriel Hernández Serrato (Colombia), Marianna Peragallo (Brazil), and Tessa Mars (Haiti). These artists present different ways of dealing with the loss of memory, as they approach different forms of oblivion and reflect on how it shapes the cultural and political present. This exhibition considers why societies forget and keep forgetting, the absence of a historical and a collective memory, and how memory is transformed and past experiences are repeated. The show contrasts the artists’ personal, social, and cultural contexts, crossing national frontiers and finding a common ground.
http://www.sva.edu/events/events-exhibitions/memory-of-oblivion
