Indira Allegra Interview for “Past Presence” Exhibition 2017

Video (19:43): artist and queer woman Indira Allegra is interviewed about “Past Presence” (2017), a two person show at Pro Arts Gallery in California with Christopher R. Martin. Her works deals with with black grief and police violence. It offers a healing space in response to the politicized trauma in Black contemporary life through the medium of weaving.

Pro Arts Gallery writes,’for Past Presence, Allegra presents an iteration of Open Casket – an ongoing, immersive digital weaving installation – by combining abstract compositions with audio recordings of grief-stricken families who have lost loved ones to police violence. Within Open Casket, Allegra explores the structure of crepe, a textile historically associated with mourning and commonly used to line the interior of caskets. Both visceral and mournful, Open Casket is a reflection on digital mourning and the materiality of Black sadness and Black life.’

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