SEPTEMBER 24, 2024 — UTSA Arts presents “Notes for Tomorrow,” a collection of artworks from around the world reflecting on the cultural transition ushered in the by the COVID-19 pandemic. The exhibition will run through Saturday, October 26, at the UTSA Main Art Gallery, located on the second floor of the Arts Building (ARTS 2.03.04).
Independent Curators International (ICI), an organization fostering global collaboration and curatorial innovation, turned to 30 peers from 25 countries, asking them to question and reassess the pandemic’s impact and its relevance today. The result is a collection of creative works, including videos, photography, installations and murals that focus on present conditions and how COVID has changed everyday life. The exhibit draws attention to a wide range of historic and cultural histories and advocates for change.
“The exhibit displays a great range of approaches, from the subtle to the insistent. We are hoping that visitors in our community will be inspired by the energy with which artists draw attention to issues in their communities. Not only do we have opportunity to learn about significant issues that speak across the local to the global, visitors here in San Antonio may be encouraged to develop their own creative activism,” said Scott Sherer, professor in the UTSA Department of Art History and director of Galleries.
“We are hoping that visitors in our community will be inspired by the energy with which artists draw attention to issues in their communities.”
Artists featured in this exhibition include:
- Madiha Aijaz
- Ernesto Bautista
- Maeve Brennan
- Vajiko Chachkhiani
- Luke Luokun Cheng
- Nothando Chiwanga
- Shezad Dawood
- Demian DinéYazhi’
- Cao Guimarães
- Ilana Harris-Babo
- Rei Hayama
- Amrita Hepi
- Tamás Kaszás
- Ali Kazma
- David Lozano
- Mona Marzou
- Joiri Minaya
- Peter Morin
- Omehen, Daniela Ortiz
- Kristina Kay Robinson
- Luiz Roque
- Mark Salvatus
- Yan Shi
- Ibrahima Thiam
- Wayne Kaumualii Westlake
- Two organizations, INVASORIX and A Liberated Library for Education, Inspiration, and Action also took part in providing pieces for the exhibition.
Sherer reflected on two notable pieces in the exhibition.
“The contribution by Peter Morin, born in Tahltan First Nation, Canada, uses contemporary digital media to engage audiences to consider the relationships between sacred ceremonies and new medicine,” he said. “In a high-definition video by Vajiko Chachkhiani, from Tblisi, Georgia, viewers witness the fragmentation of history as a monumental sculpture is slowly destroyed and viewers are left to consider how materials may be lost and lived experiences transformed into memory and how memories may continue to have incredible force into the future.”
ICI, in collaboration with artists Frances Wu Giarratano, Becky Nahom, Renaud Proch and Monica Terrero, organized and produced “Notes for Tomorrow.” The exhibition was made possible with support from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the VIA Art Fund and ICI’s Board of Trustees and International Forum. Additional support for the UTSA exhibit is provided by the Texas Commission on the Arts and the Elizabeth Huth Coates Charitable Foundation of 1992.
Launched in 2022, UTSA Arts advances community arts education, public-facing performances and exhibitions, arts-based research, and partnerships to enhance the accessibility of the arts for the public.
