Learn more about all the youth exhibitions in the Edu Lab Notebook: Peer Exchange in the Park.
Jennifer Florencio
Featuring: Mistura Ajanaku, Naomi Aubin, Nyasia Bailey, Wendy Barrales, Jazmine Florencio, Jennifer Florencio, Raheal Mengisteab, Lilai Teckie
Inspired by the use of altares as tributes to those we admire, giving them their flowers is an exhibit honoring the tenacity of our matriarchs of color. Our collaged photographs are visual and aural altars for the living—celebrating Black and brown women who are often overlooked and under valued.
These five images were created by youth and adult community members with roots in Eritrea, México, and Panamá. The remaining individual panels showcase work by recent and current high school youth—whose pieces explore themes from their ethnic studies course and center the importance of art, oral histories, and the experiences of women of color.
We invite you to interact with our projects in two ways. First, slowly gaze at the photographs: Where is your attention drawn to? What’s coming up for you? Next, scan the QR code and listen to our stories: What did you feel while listening? How did the movement of the visuals affect your understanding?
The practice of centering our matriarchal roots is part of reclaiming our histories and healing the absence of our stories. We hope this exhibit inspires you to preserve the stories of your abuelitas, lolas, adeys, and aunties—to showcase the brilliance we’ve inherited from our ancestors.
About The Artists
*Mistura Ajanaku is a 17-year-old Nigerian girl from Brooklyn, New York. She spends her time writing about what life could be and its endless possibilities.
Naomi Aubin is a creative Black Panamanian girl who lives in Brooklyn. Her visual work explores self-love and advice from her mother.
*Nyasia Bailey is an 18-year-old college student from the city. She’a a writer who plans to pursue filmmaking and journalism in her future.
Wendy Barrales is a Harlem-based artist, educator, and founder of the WOCArchive. As a Xicana from the L.A. area and proud daughter of formerly undocumented Mexican immigrants, her work seeks to write and paint her ancestors and her histories into existence.
Jazmine Florencio is a current senior and Latinx committee chairwoman at Brooklyn Emerging Leaders Academy. Through her own writing, she is on a mission to share stories of strong women of color who are often misrepresented.
*Jennifer Florencio is a 17-year-old Chicana from Queens, New York, and a full-time student. Florencio is a social activist who spends her free time creating digital art and journaling.
Raheal Mengisteab is a community-builder, connector, and collector from Southern California by way of Eritrea. She is passionate about amplifying the voices and stories of Black and brown people globally through different mediums.
Lilai Teckie is a 29-year-old, first-generation Eritrean-American woman, born and raised in New York. Teckie works for a New York City-based nonprofit doing development and fundraising work. She is passionate about community and storytelling, and archives in her free time.
*These artists have an individual panel.
Organizations
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WOC Archive
The Women of Color Archive (WOCArchive) is an intergenerational project preserving the visual and aural stories of our matriarchs of color. Founded in 2016 by Wendy Barrales, with a single interview of her abuelita Aída’s life in rural Veracruz, the archive has grown into a digital platform that houses multiple projects created by former students and community members of all ages. Projects from the spring of 2018 and 2019, many of which are showcased in this year’s Photoville Festival, are final projects that were created in a high school ethnic studies course and were archived at Weeksville Heritage Center.
Since then, WOCArchive continues to host intergenerational workshops to continue preserving the stories of all of our grandmothers and matriarchs to ensure these experiences are passed onto future generations.
We are a growing project and we welcome art and oral history submissions from our community. For more info, please check out the highlights on our Instagram page: www.instagram.com/wocarchive
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PhotoWings
We’re honored to continue our partnership with Photoville for our 7th consecutive year, and to celebrate Photoville’s 12th edition! Each year Photoville provides so many rich, unique, and diverse experiences in and around photography–PhotoWings is thrilled to help enrich this community as Education Partners.
Our mission is to highlight and help facilitate the power of photography to influence the world. We help photography to be better understood, created, utilized, seen, and saved. We are dedicated to utilizing the power of photography to further deep thinking, communication, and action.
The PhotoWings Outreach Program and our extensive media archive have myriad educational applications and possibilities, including projects from partners that cross disciplines, generations, and cultures. We also create toolkits/curricula for replication, adaptation and/or inspiration.
PhotoWings has partnered to document the Photoville Talks for the past five years, to expand the ways the global community can be a part of these important dialogues. Explore the collection of Photoville Talks today!
Be sure to check out all the Photoville Resources that have been supported in partnership with PhotoWings
And for more information about PhotoWings, you can visit http://photowings.org/
dándoles sus flores (giving them their flowers)
archive
:
2021
Featuring: Various Artists
Curated by: Wendy Barrales Jennifer Florencio
Presented by: WOC Archive, PhotoWings
Locations
View Location Details Brooklyn Bridge Park – Pier 3Brooklyn
NY
This location is part of Brooklyn Bridge Park
Explore other locations and exhibitions nearby
- Monday 6:00 am - 1:00 am
- Tuesday 6:00 am - 1:00 am
- Wednesday 6:00 am - 1:00 am
- Thursday 6:00 am - 1:00 am
- Friday 6:00 am - 1:00 am
- Saturday 6:00 am - 1:00 am
- Sunday 6:00 am - 1:00 am
Recipient of the 2021 Photoville & PhotoWings Educator Exhibition Grant.
WOCArchive logo designed by: Destinie Escobedo.
Thanks to Obden Mondésir for archival support at The Weeksville Heritage Center.
Thanks to the class of 2021 & 2022 at BELA Charter High School.
Related Events
Sep
182021
Fall 2021 Educator Lab: Peer Exchange In The Park
Produced and Hosted by Photoville Education
Proudly supported in partnership by PhotoWings and the NYC Mayor’s Office of Media & Entertainment
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