Emergent Futures: State of the Field
Three days of exchanges and social research in North Carolina’s Triangle & Triad

September 13 – Chapel Hill
September 14 – Durham
September 15 – Greensboro

For a full decade, Open Engagement has brought together artists, activists, and scholars for an intensive yearly conference in a wide range of cities like New York, Chicago, Oakland, Portland, and Regina. Founded by artists and characterized by its grassroots self-organization, OE has stood out as a key context for socially engaged practitioners and theorists alike. Participants have ranged from the local to the international, including people like Angela Davis, Suzanne Lacy, Lucy Lippard, Mel Chin, Rick Lowe, Mierle Laderman Ukeles, J. Morgan Puett, Tom Finkelpearl, Claire Doherty, Michael Rakowitz, Pablo Helguera, Paul Ramirez Jonas, Emily Jacir, Julie Ault, and Theaster Gates.

As part of Open Engagement’s research year to re-assess its future and evaluate the needs of the field, they will be hosted in the NC Triangle & Triad September 13-15 2019 by the FHI Social Practice Lab at Duke, UNC-Greensboro, UNC-Chapel Hill, and various local organizations. The OE team will keynote the weekend, sharing their trajectory and making space for conversations on local needs, followed by an emergent strategy training. Led by Alexis Pauline Gumbs to assist in thinking about possible futures, the training is based on the work of adrienne maree brown and has been arranged with the Emergent Strategy Institute (ESII). NC partners will present a series of programs and events highlighting the work of socially engaged artists, activists, students, scholars, community members, as well as organizations working within the area. This event has been organized by Pedro Lasch (Duke) and Lee Walton (UNC-G), in collaboration with all listed individuals and groups.

Full Schedule

Friday, September 13th, 2019 at UNC Chapel Hill

3:00 – 5:00 pm: Public Kick Off Event & Panel
with Sabine Gruffat, Maya Little, Mario Marzan, Tony Perucci, Roxana Perez-Mendez, and Hong-An Truong
Location: CURRENT Art Space and Studio at Carolina Square

8:00 – 10:00 pm: Tierra Whack performance with Carolina Performances
Location: Memorial Hall
Limited complimentary tickets available via email, to purchase tickets click here

Saturday, September 14, 2019 at Duke and Durham

10:00 am – 12:00 pm: Open Engagement Keynote
Keynote with Open Engagement team (Jen Delos Reyes, Crystal Baxley, Latham Zearfoss), with opening remarks by Chris Vitiello
Location: Rubenstein Arts Center, aka Ruby
Free parking at Campus Drive lot across Anderson St, if full go to Nasher Museum lot

12:00 pm – 1:00 pm: Lunch
Free lunch for all, and time to view the exhibitions queerXscapes by Sinan Goknur and Max Symuleski (1st-floor Agora Gallery) and Who Owns Poverty in Mexico by Daniel Ruvalcaba (2nd floor Art Gallery)

1:00 pm – 3:00 pm: Parallel Workshops
All Parallel workshops will happen at Rubenstein Arts Center
1) Parliament, a participatory work with Michael Kliën (open to all)
2) Art & Gerrymandering, a workshop/conversation with Tommy DeFrantz and Jina Valentine (open to all)
3) Daniel Aguilar Ruvalcaba and Ana Neri, A Talk About Turtles – Part 2 (open to all)
4) Emergent Strategy Training with Alexis Pauline Gumbs (1-4pm, limited capacity, readings required, must rsvp, register by sending an email to [email protected])

3:00 – 4:00pm: Viewing of Art for a New Understanding: Native Voices, 1950s to Now 
Location: Nasher Museum

4:30 – 6:30pm: “Alternate Visions & Counter Institutions”
Roundtable conversation facilitated by Courtney Reid-Eaton with Saba Taj, Heather Cook, Ann Woodward, Pierce Freelon, Monét Marshall
Location: The Carrack 

7:00 – 9:00pm: African Fashion Week NC’s Runway Fashion Show
Requires $10 ticket, available at the door
Location: The Fruit

Sunday, September 15, 2019 in Greensboro

11:00am – 12:00pm
“The Jumpsuit Project” conversation facilitated by Sherrill Roland, Greensboro Project Space (open to all)

12:30 – 2:00pm: Emergent Strategies: Creating a Collective AudioBook Event w/Garden Party by Patrick Healy, Greensboro Project Space (open to all)

2:30 – 4:00pm: Workshop Series (public events, open to all)
 Multiple Sites
1) Diego Vergara, Backyards, The Pink House on Rankin St.
2) Shoshana Gugenheim: Citizen 100, Location TBA
3) Lee Walton and Nikki Silvestri (Soil and Shadow) Present “Horticulture Workshop”, Deep Roots Co-Op
4) Magloire Lubika: Smell the Roses, Greensboro Project Space
5) Lowell Fuchs: Deep Listening, UNCG Campus / Connor McNerney’s “Light House” Space
6) Alexandria P. Clay + Anthony Patterson, Paradigm Shifts of Public Spaces, Location TBA

4:30 – 6:00pm: Wrap-Up Conversation on Emergent Futures
Closing Event – Public gathering with live music, food options, cold drinks, and good people.
Location: Deep Roots Co-Op

Special thanks to all of the above participants and co-organizers, as well as Laura Ritchie, Quran Karriem, Adam Carlin, Sunny Spillane, Amy Russell, and Emily Ensminger. In addition to the above listed host organizations, Emergent Futures has been made possible through the generous support of UNC-Greensboro School of Art, Carolina Performing Arts, and Duke University’s Provost, Vice Provost for the Arts, Vice Provost for Interdisciplinary Studies, Global Affairs, Arts & Sciences Dean, Humanities Dean, Dean of Academic Affairs, Franklin Humanities Institute, the Department of Art, Art History, and Visual Studies, and the Biddle Fund.