After Hope Symposium: Future Forms and Alternative Methods

Saturday, Nov. 6, 10AM–4:30 PM

Explore diverse expressions and legacies of hope in contemporary art through workshops, performances, and discussions in this two-day symposium presented in conjunction with After Hope: Videos of Resistance. Using the work of artists from across Asia and its diaspora as catalysts for inquiry, we’ll examine hope’s potential for form, method, and action. Is hope, as writer and activist Rebecca Solnit writes, grounded in the wild possibilities of untold futures? Or does it reflect a deep commitment to community as posited by religious studies professor Andre Willis? Perhaps, drawing on photographer Zanele Muholi’s idea of “visual activism,” hope emerges from works that challenge us to change.

Schedule: 

10 AM         Welcome Remarks 

10:15 AM
Future, Museum, Pedagogies 

Keziah Aurin
Cheng-Chai Chiang, moderator 
Ryan Ikeda 
Lauren Kroiz 
Xiaoyu Xia 
Shirl Yang 

11 AM
Hope, Pragmatism, and the Object 

Santhi Kavuri-Bauer 
Asma Kazmi 
Janet Oh, moderator 
Christopher K. Tong 

12 PM      Break 

1 PM
Workshops 

Seed Workshop – Connie Zheng 
Dear Bi-Lingering: The Language of Letters – Labkhand Olfatmanesh and Gazelle Samizay 
Reading Under the Waqwaq Tree – Naz Cuguoğlu, Cathy Lu, and Ranu Mukherjee 

2:30 PM
Videos of Resistance 

ACAB 
Arahmaiani 

3 PM
SWANA (Southwest Asian and North African) Artists in the Bay Area: Art & Community

Shaghayegh Cyrous
Taraneh Hemami
Roula Seikaly, moderator

4 PM
Diaspora Arts Connection

Asaf Ophir
Amelia Romano 
Dina Zarif 

Join us for the other symposium sessions: 

Friday, Nov. 5, 8 AM–12 PM
Online via Zoom
Preregistration required

Friday, Nov. 5, 1–5 PM
On-Site at the Museum 
Preregistration suggested

Proof of vaccination and ID required for all attendees.

Image: Selected works from After Hope: Videos of Resistance. Video still and ephemera. Courtesy of the artists.