Post 5_ Faaria

 

HOME HERE GALLERY EXHIBIT

The art exhibit was one of my favorite experiences as a student at NJCU. I entered the HOME HERE exhibit with a sense of curiosity and didn’t know what to expect. However, once I looked at the art and learned about the artists, I was so engaged that I couldn’t keep track of the time. The exhibit felt very beautifully put together, with all the installations flowing together and complementing each other. It depicted history, art, comfort, and memory at the same time. Some artworks sparked curiosity in me, while the others just gave me feelings of comfort, peace, and relaxation. I could literally feel a sense of calm as this class allowed me to just take my time to soak it all in and observe. While the world can be a very provocative place with no time to stare, to think, or to observe, this exhibit allowed me to do so, and I am very glad. This experience did justice to the exhibit’s name, HOME HERE, as the people, their art, and every element of this exhibit made me feel at HOME.

All the artists were so excellent, which made this a hard choice to make, but Tina Maneca and her artwork were really engrossing. Firstly, it felt like entering someone’s personal space. At a glance, it felt like a comfortable nursery with all the beautiful patchwork quilts, stuffed animals, and colors, but there was more depth to it that I couldn’t comprehend until the artist herself explained it to the audience. The colorful patched quilt was actually made by sewing little drug bags that Tina Maneca found on the streets of Jersey City. It blew my mind because this is something I never thought anyone would be capable of—collecting dirtbags and creating something so beautiful.

Personally, I appreciated how the majority of this artwork was recycled and could be transformed into something else if she wanted. I loved the intimate and personal feel to this installation, and it was definitely eye-catching. The patchwork really drew me towards it, as I feel like each and every patchwork and each dirtbag has its own story. It's like stepping into someone else’s lived experience, suggesting more complicated emotions connected to memory, comfort, and survival.

The next thing I laid my eyes on was Jennifer Robert’s installation in a little intimate spot of its own. I was so excited to look at these vintage photos of so many people, which felt like I was flipping through someone’s family album. It made me want to just look at each photograph and analyze them all. The theme was nostalgic, comforting, and packed with happy and sad memories. Photographs have a deep intimacy of their own. Growing up, I have always been a little photograph in my dad’s wallet alongside my mother. It made my eyes well up thinking how photos are so important, and at some point, that’s all we’re left with. I lost my grandma miles away from me in a different country, and I was never able to say goodbye or see her one last time. The photos I had taken with her on a random day then became the last photos of us together. 

Unfortunately, Jennifer Roberts didn’t have the privilege to reminisce about her past through pictures and had to rebuild her memories through art. It made me so uncomfortable knowing this is a reality for so many people, and I cannot imagine going through it myself. This was a powerful intervention, as this feeling of loss is presented out there through art, and the audience is able to relate to it and feel all the emotions, like nostalgia, grief, and melancholy.

 “One of the most important goals of activist art is to encourage social and political change… activist art often creates a dialogue and forces people to think about these problems.”

This exhibit definitely forced people to talk about it and the messages through comfort, nostalgia, and love. It might not encourage direct protest or anything provocative, but the message is deeply understood.

 “to misbehave, to talk back… by showing the gaps in representation,”

The exhibition highlights voices that are often excluded from dominant narratives. By curating these works together, the gallery itself becomes a space for activism, expanding how art can function as a tool for awareness and inclusion