Here We Live
Halil Altindere Jeamin Cha Angelica Mesiti Jerome Reyes Norman Therkelson Yu Guo Living in a city, town, or village often entails being privy to its changes, more often than not, in rapid and unsettling ways. Presenting videos and installations, alongside archival materials, the exhibition Here We Live , foregrounds the importance of recording and sharing local cultural traditions and personal stories in moments of collective urban transformation. In the San Francisco Bay Area, and much like other cities such as Chongqing, Istanbul, or Seoul–long established communities have faced regular disruptions as the fabric of the city evolves. Among these disturbances, the rapid growth of residential and commercial districts and the displacement of residents have resulted in a long history of disarray and remained a burning and controversial topic of local conversations, politics, and urban planning. Through the artists’ various global perspectives, Here We Live sheds light on the ways in which communities adapt, through traditional and personal cultures, to a world changing, transforming, and shifting around them. Here We Live is the second chapter of a collaboration with the Galaxy Museum of Contemporary Art in Chongqing, China. The first iteration of the exhibition, Here We Meet – Munchhausen Trilemma and Rest, took place in 2018 in Chongqing.