Altar America

October 27 – November 18, 2023

This exhibit is not just an art show, but a festival of cross-cultural ancestor remembrance celebration inspired by Dia de los Muertos and many other ancestor remembrance celebrations from around the world.

Cultures worldwide have numerous ancestor remembrance traditions, but America does not, particularly because American ethnocide does not want people of color to collectively gather, remember their past, and retell their stories. Ethnocide is the destruction of culture while keeping the people. The Altars Festival counters ethnocide by empowering people to remember, sustain, and celebrate their culture, while also providing a safe communal space for coping with the generational trauma and loss brought on by American ethnocide. We combat ethnocide through acts of cultural remembrance, activating ancestral knowledge, and creating new traditions that are relevant to our lived experiences. The Altars Festival RVA 2023 is a collaboration of The Sustainable Culture Lab, Philanthropy Journal, and Art Works. Art Works issued an altars call-for-entries for this exhibit to create altars. The aim is for the greater RVA community to see these examples, and become inspired to engage in their own, culturally relevant acts of remembrance.

This exhibit will be in the Centre Gallery.