The New Museum’s Democracy-themed season presents a series of public programs and conversations around matters of representation, suppression, constitutional protection, political identity, and activism. A residency and exhibition with My Barbarian (Malik Gaines, Jade Gordon, and Alexandro Segade) anchors the season.
Working at the intersection of theater, visual arts, and critical practice, the collective uses legacies of revolutionary theater to theatricalize social problems and imagine ways of being together. “The Audience is Always Right” includes a series of workshops, performances, and public programs. The title of the exhibition takes on a critical and ironic undertone in this moment when politics are more hyperbolic and spectacle-driven than ever before.
Notable upcoming My Barbarian programming includes the ‘Post-Party Dream State Caucus’ on Thursday, November 3rd. Days before the election, My Barbarian invite members of the public to become delegates in an unconventional political convention. Prompted by speeches, anthems, and games, the audience will explore group identities and cast votes in a hyperbolically absurd caucus format.
The New Museum is also holding a feminist youth summit organized by an emerging generation of artists, writers, and activists. ‘Scamming the Patriarchy: A Youth Summit’, taking place on November 13, will include public workshops throughout the Museum organized around five guiding principles: healing, self-love, skill building, political education, and empowerment.
The season as a whole reflects on the potential redemption of a government “by the people for the people” in a moment when the urgency to build consensus may require the compromise of certain revolutionary principles. Here, democracy and its outcomes are considered.
“The Audience is Always Right” runs now through January 8th, with select programs happening throughout the season.
