A VIRTUAL EXHIBIT OF MY INSTALLATION,
I AM MY WHITE ANCESTORS: Claiming the Legacy of Oppression
A multi-disciplinary installation of thirteen life-size photographic portraits exploring European-American heritage, my family, and their role in the history of race, class, colonization, and genocide.
The ancestors, real and imagined, span over 2000 years from the Celtic Iron Age to present-day Portland, Oregon. The 84” x 55” portraits, printed on fabric panels, are accompanied by short audio diaries from the perspective of each ancestor.
They show how I have embodied each character to understand and embrace my history. The repeated faces illustrate beliefs being passed down through the generations like DNA.
The audio diaries reveal the historical events and traumas that shaped each ancestor and caused them to act our oppressive behaviors.
“What a mammoth project. It blew me away. The creativity brings history alive. It makes me want to go back and do my historical research. When Anne conceived of this three years ago it seemed like an oddball project to me. Now it’s front and center in the national conversation. It’s beautiful because there is so much honesty in it. It’s what white people need to do.”
-Melanie Rios, Portland, Oregon
EXHIBIT GOALS
The goals of this artwork are to make European American history and identity visible and to inspire white viewers in particular to claim both positive and negative aspects of their own family histories as a step towards participating in the end of racism.
The installation supports broad community outreach on anti-racism education, social justice, gender roles, and history. It uses the power of art for both understanding and social action.
WHO IS THIS FOR?
As a multi-disciplinary project, this artwork is of interest to many different groups who are positioned to explore, share, and put into practice new ideas and information. Within an educational setting, it is relevant for classes in art, theater, and general humanities including gender roles, history, sociology, English, social justice and more. To engage students, the exhibit includes a teacher’s guide to help high school and college instructors utilize the exhibit in their classes. They will learn about history in a personal way, be invited to examine their own lives, and inspired to take action.
Religious congregations and non profits with social justice goals also find this show useful for group discussion. These groups will be able to use the exhibit to further their own goals by hosting special events and promoting it to their members. The project will engage visitors to reframe the concept of white heritage and its relation to racism and its companion oppressions of classism, colonization, and genocide.
VIDEO
ART TALK AT THE NEWPORT VISUAL ART CENTER
EXPLORE THE EXHIBIT
BRING A PIECE OF THE INSTALLATION HOME
Get the IAMWA Accordion Book
A 6" x 3.5" (when folded) accordion book with all 13 self-portraits from the installation, plus a short reflection of my own experience of the ancestor.
Profits from the sale of this book will support the show as it travels to other cities and regions.