I CAN: Requiem for I Can't

Barbara T. Smith Procession

Barbara T. Smith leads a processional as part of her performance for the March 31, 2012 celebration of I CAN: Requiem for I Can’t at the Social and Political Art Resource Center in Venice, CA.

Barbara T. Smith

Barbara T. Smith performance at the opening ceremony of I CAN: Requiem for I Can’t on March 31, 2012.

Nina Jun Projection

Nina Jun puts the finishing touches on the sculptural installation pieces for the month-long exhibition. Jun’s vivid video projections on large, rounded forms suggest both Korean burial mounds and a pregnant womb. As the shapes encourage the metaphoric mental shift of Smith’s transformative rite, they also housed and enshrined the intentional detritus that the project’s switch from I Can’t to I Can makes possible. Public participation at the event was encouraged and became a part of the installation.

Barbara T. Smith

Participants and gallery guest during Barbara T. Smith’s I CAN performance.

Overall Installation

I CAN: Requiem for I Can’t Installation.

Nina Jun, Barbara T. Smith, Cathy Salser

Artists Nina Jun and Barbara T. Smith with AWBW Founder and Executive Director Cathy Salser.

Public Dialogue

Public Dialogue was held on Sunday, April 22, 2012. Lead artists Barbara T. Smith and Nina Jun, joined Judy Baca, co-founder of SPARC and renowned muralist, and Cathy Salser, founder of A Window Between Worlds. They explored the power of art to help end violence against women. Moderator was art writer and artist Suvan Geer.