Wendy’s Subway presents a three-day convening celebrating the recent publication of A Grammar Built with Rocks, edited by Shoghig Halajian and Suzy Halajian.
In the introduction to the publication, the editors write, “violence is never totalizing, but rather leaves marks of collective action and insurgent refusal.” Taking up this proposition, this convening centers histories of resilience and collective struggle while tracing how artistic practices respond to conditions of dispossession and ecological harm, alongside the narratives of crisis and development that shape material and symbolic forms of erasure.
Bringing together contributors and new interlocutors, the program expands on, and offers multiple points of entry into, the syntax of A Grammar Built with Rocks, foregrounding artistic and activist practices that engage questions of colonialism, ecology, and resistance. Composed of a screening, reading group, conversation, performance, and listening session, the weekend’s multilayered format honors the interdisciplinarity of the publication.
Reading Group, Conversation, and Performances
Center for Art, Research and Alliances (CARA)
Saturday, January 24, 1–6pm
Inspired by Édouard Glissant’s theory of relational belonging, this program emphasizes interconnectivity among liberation struggles while remaining attentive to the specificity of place and history. Across disciplines and forms, the publication and program reflect a shared commitment to relational, cross-disciplinary exchange and collective modes of inquiry.
The day begins with a reading group facilitated by Amber Jamilla Musser that focuses on key concepts across the writings of Édouard Glissant and Suzanne Césaire. A conversation between Laura al-Tibi, Adam HajYahia, and Fawz Kabra then considers place-based methodologies developed by artists engaging landscapes shaped by ongoing colonial and ecological harm. The program concludes with a reading by Ryan C. Clarke, followed by a performance by Muyassar Kurdi. Throughout the day, a playlist of audio recordings selected by A Grammar Built with Rocks contributors can be experienced in the listening room.
More information, and RSVP here.
**Note: My performance begins at 5PM