After more than a year of planning, Project for Empty Space launched the BODY FREEDOM FOR EVERY(BODY) HQ, a precursor to its namesake traveling exhibition, at NYC project space, PES FUTURES located at 128 Baxter Street, New York, NY, 10013 on Tuesday, July 9th. The headquarters is open to the public for engagement, resources and discussion Tuesday through Saturday from 12 to 6 p.m daily.
The BODY FREEDOM FOR EVERY(BODY) HQ will introduce the project to the local community and serve as a think tank for planning and conversations on Reproductive Justice, Queer Liberation, and Trans Joy. Throughout the summer, the location will morph to include different activations and programs in preparation for the Fall 2024 mobile exhibition tour.
Amongst the artworks presented in the HQ there will be a participatory installation, A Series of Choices by Ashley Molese and Caroline Sinders, who previously mounted the project during PES’ 2023 Feminist Incubator Program. A Series of Choices will prompt visitors to vote for statements that relate to their experience with abortion and culminate in a large-scale, participatory data visualization of this subject. Audience members exercise their enshrined right to vote to assert how reproductive justice issues affect and inform their lived experiences.
Additionally, visitors will view works from a select number of artists including David Antonio Cruz, Amaryllis R. Flowers, Chitra Ganesh, Marilyn Minter, Eric Hart Jr., and Thank God for Abortion.
Reflecting on the larger programmatic endeavor, Co-Directors Jasmine Wahi and Rebecca Pauline Jampol say, “After a year of planning, we are excited to hit the road for our rights, and be in community with the nation. This exhibition-tour will bring together culture makers who are creating thoughtful work around body autonomy. We are so grateful to be in community with people from all intersections of life as we celebrate our right to be at our fullest and most open selves. This celebration is a counter to all of those who seek to restrict us.”
BODY FREEDOM FOR EVERY(BODY) TOUR UPDATES
The BODY FREEDOM FOR EVERY(BODY) Tour will officially kick off September 2, 2024, and tour NYC through September 8th. Following its local unveiling it will head West to Iowa State, California, Texas and Florida, Returning in November to the South East, and concluding back in the Tri-State area in December.
As the team gears up for the tour, more information on planned stops will be shared this Fall, where PES will see further engagement with its communities and expand the conversation through art, performance, collaboration, and dialogue.
Each leg of the BODY FREEDOM tour will serve as a moment to underscore and connect the unyielding efforts towards choice in healthcare and identity already taking place throughout communities, to the artists and arts organizations that have, and continue to champion bodily autonomy(ies).
HOW TO GET INVOLVED
There are several ways to support the BODY FREEDOM FOR EVERY(BODY) project along the road! These range from sharing information throughout communities, volunteering as a docent on-site at one of Body Freedoms local stops, sharing documentation of the project throughout the different cities, and many more. For those interested in learning more about ways to get involved please head over to www.bodyfreedomforeverybody.org and submit an entry in the “Get Involved” form for more information!
ABOUT BODY FREEDOM FOR EVERY(BODY)
BODY FREEDOM FOR EVERY(BODY) is our cross-country exhibition tour inside a 27-foot Box Truck celebrating Reproductive Justice, Queer Liberation, and Trans Joy! We're bringing over 100 artists’ works inside this truck to cultivate community coast-to-coast. The two-part endeavor (a traveling exhibition and an accessible digital database) addresses the importance of agency, autonomy, and choice when it comes to healthcare and individual identity.
This project aims to create awareness, cultivate community, and engender support for bodily autonomy through art. This project emerges as a response to a relentless wave of conservatism that continues to politicize queer liberation and restrict reproductive & gender-affirming healthcare. The overarching message of this program is broadening awareness of the right to Safe, Legal, and Accessible health care that allows us to live in our power and choice.