This Fall at the Vera List Center

The Vera List Center for Art and Politics (VLC) at The New School is pleased to announce its Fall 2021 programs and the continuation of its As for Protocols Seminar Series, a two-year curriculum curated around the 2020–2022 focus theme As for Protocols.

We convene this year’s seminar with partner organizations, collectives, and independent curators, bringing new perspectives on not only the focus theme but also the protocols of collaboration and institutional alignment. This ethics of collaboration extends through to our Vera List Center Forum 2021 (October 12–16), which is presented in partnership with the international organizations and projects nominated for the 2020–2022 Jane Lombard Prize for Art and Social Justice, as well as local organizations in New York City. This year’s forum brings a mix of virtual and in-person events with the 2020–2022 fellows, alongside an exhibition environment and live exchanges on notions of infrastructure with prize recipient Avni Sethi of Conflictorium, and additional guests.

Other fall programs, such as Borderlands Fellow Carolina Caycedo’s vigil ceremony at El Museo del Barrio; Legacy Russell’s AICA-USA Distinguished Critic Lecture, the ArtsLink Assembly, and the Rethinking Residencies conference further build the VLC’s ongoing initiatives and new institutional partnerships.

CEREMONY & VIGIL
¡LOS QUE MUEREN POR LA VIDA, NO PUEDEN LLAMARSE MUERTOS! (THOSE WHO DIE FOR LIFE, ARE NOT DEAD!)
Saturday, September 18, 2021, 6–7:30 pm EDT, El Museo del Barrio
The culminating event of El Museo del Barrio’s Estamos Bien – La Trienal 20/21, Carolina Caycedo hosts a vigil and “pagamento” in honor of murdered environmentalists with a lighting ceremony at sunset, testimonies from the frontlines of environmental justice, and live musical performance.

SEMINAR 7
Drones and the Bird’s-Eye View
Monday, September 20, 2021, 2–4 pm EDT, online
The seminar examines the technical and human protocols that informed the early development of drones, and how they have co-evolved with commercial and household technologies since their advent. Co-convened with High Line Art, with artist Heba Amin, curator Roger D. Connor, and The New School faculty Peter Asaro, and moderated by High Line Art Associate Curator Melanie Kress, we consider how bio-inspired design influenced drone technology development, as well as ongoing conversations about various forms of technological intelligence in warfare.

FORUM
As for Protocols Forum 2021
Tuesday through Saturday, October 12–16, 2021, online & in-person
Organized within the framework of the VLC’s two-year investigation of As for Protocols, the VLC Forum 2021 celebrates the work of Avni Sethi, recipient of the 2020–2022 Jane Lombard Prize for Art and Social Justice for Conflictorium, with an exhibition environment and live exchanges on notions of infrastructure. Each day of the Forum highlights another project of one of the 2020–2022 Jane Lombard Fellows: Emeka Okereke and other Invisible Borders Trans-African Photographers Organization members gather at UnionDocs for workshops and screenings; we present an introduction to the work of Nepal Picture Library, founded by NayanTara Gurung Kakshapati; Underground Resistance presents a DJ performance by Nomadico at Weeksville Heritage Center; and Jorge González of Escuela de Oficios holds a collective gathering and communal altar at The Clemente.

SEMINAR 8
Work in the Cultural Economy We Want: Cooperatives
Monday, November 8, 2021, 1–2:30 pm EST, online
Cooperative and worker-owned enterprises in the arts and culture sector are gaining traction (again). Convened with  Caroline Woolard of Art.coop, this seminar brings together cultural cooperatives in a conversation about protocols that build shared political, economic, and cultural power. Computer scientist, game designer, educator, and co-founder of Emma Technology Cooperative Ramsey Nasser leads participants in a collaborative game designed for the seminar.

ASSEMBLY
ArtsLink Assembly 2021: Future Fellows
Wednesday, November 17 & Friday, November 19, 2021, online
ArtsLink Assembly 2021: Future Fellows gathers independent arts leaders and artists, including VLC Boris Lurie Fellow Etcétera, building new networks locally and transnationally to support and sustain independent artists in a post-pandemic world.

LECTURE
AICA-USA Distinguished Critic Lecture: Legacy Russell
Monday, November 29, 2021, 7–8:30 pm EST, online
Curator and critic Legacy Russell delivers the 15th annual AICA-USA Distinguished Critic Lecture in partnership with the VLC. Born and raised in New York City, Russell is the Executive Director & Chief Curator of The Kitchen. Her academic, curatorial, and creative work focuses on gender, performance, digital selfdom, internet idolatry, and new media ritual. Her first book is Glitch Feminism: A Manifesto (2020). Her second book, BLACK MEME, is forthcoming via Verso Books.

INSTALLATION & PERFORMANCE
Hél čhaŋkú kiŋ ȟpáye (There lies the road)
Friday, December 3 through Sunday, December 12, 2021, PS122 Gallery
Suzanne Kite presents the culmination of a year-long research project, Hél čhaŋkú kiŋ ȟpáye (There lies the road), with a VLC-commissioned performance and installation of interfaces and wearable technology, immersive video, and sound.

SEMINAR 9
Bridge: Protocols of Jazz and Modernism
Monday, December 6, 2021, 6–8 pm EST, online
A bridge that serves as structure for music, that functions as both practice and protocol, lends this program its title. This discussion draws on such musical structures as the bridge (following Dimitri Chandler’s remarks on Cecil Taylor) as well as its classical precedent, the call and response, to articulate various protocols of jazz and modern music. The seminar is convened with curator Serubiri Moses, with Raymond Pinto, performance artist, Tendayi Sithole, Associate Professor, Department of Political Sciences, University of South Africa.

SYMPOSIUM
Rethinking Residencies Symposium
Wednesday, December 8 through Friday, December 10, 2021, online
Rethinking Residencies hosts its first symposium to address the dearth of scholarship regarding residency programs as critical sites of production within the field of visual arts.