Oral history is largely associated with telling stories. The Spring ’21 Oral History Master of Arts (OHMA) student exhibition is approaching the craft of oral history through these two questions:
How do we know that we are listening?
How do our narrators know they are being heard?
Across more than a dozen live events over two weeks & paired exhibits that will remain live into the summer, you’ll be invited to experiment with listening. Some events & exhibits may ask you to immerse in a shared present time and you may forget your body at your computer as you join something global. Some may sink you soundly back in your body and release you from time for a while as you reconnect with what is very local. Some may even ask you to step away from the screen. Some may be easy for you to listen to wherever you happen to be and some may be hard. What do you hear when you’re not able to listen?
—Carlin Liu Zia & Amy Starecheski, Listen Here Co-Curators
Featured projects…
Lisa R. Cohen, Voices from the Home Front
Margie Cook, Oral Tradition in the Kitchen: Peruvian Tamales
Casey Dooley, Palace of Memory
Susan Garrity, Every Path Speaks
Michael Giannetti, Making Meaning: An Oral History Project
Elizabeth Jefimova, From the Armory to the Classroom
Kae Bara Kratcha, bodyhome maker
Aluel Bol Kuanyin, My Own Inner Alchemy
Seth Langer, Down Will Come Baby: Secrets of Sleep from Friends and Strangers
Jennie Morrison, Reflections on Teaching, Learning, and Care through Education Narratives Project
Brandon Perdomo, SHEDDINGSOMETHINGSHEDDING
Harpal Singh, The Victims of November
Taylor Thompson, “Tell me about that world”: speculative archives, black feminist listening practices
Nina Zhou, Chinatown: The Stories We Cherish