To gather has many meanings, each of which details the nuanced relationships between objects and subjects and, by extension, individuals and communities. This exhibition—featuring Kulimushi Barongozi, Ruby Gonzalez Hernandez, Aisha Nailah, Moshopefoluwa “MO” Olagunju, Daniel “silencio” Ramirez, Liah Sinq, Arvia Walker, and Yves Wilson—explores them all.  

First and foremost, Gather provides an opportunity for New Haven’s diverse creative communities to come together in celebration of eight regional artists and the inauguration of Orchid Gallery. A partnership between ConnCORP and the bldg fund, Orchid Gallery was established to: invest in artists as visionary yet economically marginalized creative entrepreneurs; build accessible, culturally-specific space in Greater New Haven; and mobilize the power of Black art in cultivating an engaged local arts community more broadly. 

Curatorially, Gather honors the work of artists who archive oral histories, collect and conserve artifacts, and otherwise assume the role of culture bearer—those who dutifully gather, reinterpret, and hold the stories and symbols that both define and enrich our communities. For artists such as Kulimushi Barongozi, Ruby Gonzalez Hernandez, and Daniel “silencio” Ramirez, to gather is to–through processes of identity exploration and material experimentation–embrace multiple ways of seeing and knowing. Moshopefoluwa “MO” Olagunju and Yves Wilson consider gathering a radical act, one that challenges conventional power dynamics and dominant historical narratives by putting forth what Olagunju describes as, “unconventional representations of the body.” Here, to gather is to summon intuitive, ancestral, and diasporic wisdom in assembling symbols that speak louder than words in telling our stories.

Aisha Nailah, Liah Sinq and Arvia Walker approach gathering as a practice of ancestor worship through visual storytelling, embracing their sacred roles as what Sinq terms, “documenters and keepers.” Using archival research and preservation as tools to collect, augment, and revere Black histories, these artists testify to the importance of intergenerational knowledge transfer, and art’s role in that. As Walker states, “How we document ourselves is a privilege that many of our ancestors did not have the freedom to do. I often ask myself, ‘What will it mean to those we will become ancestors to, to have the ability to see our faces, hear our voices, engage with our laughter, and hold our memories?’ History is a resource and art is the medium of capturing that memory in physical form.” 

In its many forms, the act of gathering is about drawing in and holding together. Like the tie that binds, this exhibition aspires to keep us together, purposefully, through ongoing self-reflection and community discourse. Stay tuned for updates on artist-led programming throughout the run of the exhibition where the artists will, in their own words, discuss what gathering means to them, both as makers and as active members of our Greater New Haven Area community.

– nico w. okoro, Exhibition Curator