Artists track 100 years of Chicago police violence to fight against it

Arts & Culture, General Interest, Public Affairs, Social Justice, Winter 2018

Artists track 100 years of Chicago police violence to fight against it

January 30, 2018

Xiaozhang(Shaw) Wan
Medill Reports

Artworks about 100 years of Chicago police violence are on exhibition “to help people better understand what led to present circumstances,” according to the exhibition brochure.

The exhibition, “Do Not Resist: 100 Years of Chicago Police Violence,” is open through varying February dates, with different works on display at the Hairpin Arts Center, Art in These Times and etc. in Chicago.

“What is important about that is, a lot of times, we see police violence as isolated incidents. This happens and that happens. What we are trying to do is to show that they are all connected,” said Monica Trinidad, an artist and organizer of the exhibit.

Paintings, video clips, audios and three-dimensional pieces at the Hairpin Arts Center provide visitors with a sense of interaction. Teach-ins, workshops, performances and panels also challenge the violence as part of the exhibit.

1-IMG_0739 — Artist Zitlali Yunuhem holds a paper crane in her hands in the Reiki-infused space, which is built for healing people’s mind, body and spirit. Language symbols of victims can be found on fabrics of the tent. (Xiaozhang (Shaw) Wan/MEDILL)

2-IMG_0727 — A visitor unfolds an origami piece that has a victim’s name and images on it. The Little Wing Folk Art group created about 60 pieces to honor the lives lost in Chicago police violence. (Xiaozhang (Shaw) Wan/MEDILL)

3-IMG_0723 — A visitor reads names and stories of 144 victims who died from police violence in the past 100 years. Their names can also be found on quilts created by the collaborative quilting project Gone But Not Forgotten, which is led by artist Rachel Wallis. (Xiaozhang (Shaw) Wan/MEDILL)

4-IMG_0762 — The rock of the artwork Repercussions was collected from the site where 17-year-old Eugene Williams was drowned after whites threw rocks at him for crossing the barrier of a segregated beach. “Ripple effects beat on the surface of water for a time, but eventually quiet and smooth away,” stated the artist C.R. Cooper. (Xiaozhang (Shaw) Wan/MEDILL)

5-IMG_0754 — A visitor looks at On the Ark, a stained glass panel by Marten Katze, which depicts the racial oppression. (Xiaozhang (Shaw) Wan/MEDILL)

6-IMG_0758 — Artists Danbee Kim and Kristina Tendilla use a turnstyle artwork to support the Chicago Asian-American Community, calling for Justice for victim Jessica Jianqing Klyzek and all police brutality survivors. (Xiaozhang (Shaw) Wan/MEDILL)

7-IMG_0721 — A volunteer shows brochures made by artists while explaining artworks. (Xiaozhang (Shaw) Wan/MEDILL)

8-IMG_0769 — Pillars of Resistance by Chicago Torture Justice Memorials provides visitors with an immersive experience. (Xiaozhang (Shaw) Wan/MEDILL)

8-2IMG_2759 — If you read pieces of fabric line by line horizontally, they state, “abolish”, “prisons” and “police.” This artwork is designed by Chicago Torture Justice Memorials to evoke the decades of torture. (Xiaozhang (Shaw) Wan/MEDILL)

9-IMG_0777 — Visitors can take a bag of seeds back home and grow them in memory of Rekia Boyd, a black woman killed by former police officer Dante Servin. “I make the connection of seeds being planted, for growth and healing, and ultimately change,” stated the artist Tesh Silver. (Xiaozhang (Shaw) Wan/MEDILL)

10-IMG_0795 — A visitor listens to interviews with family members and close friends of victims. Present Absence is a five-channel video installation created by Salome Chasnoff and Meredith Zielke. (Xiaozhang (Shaw) Wan/MEDILL)

11-IMG_0779 — People join the Cop Watching teach-in to learn basics of responding to potential police harassment and violence. (Xiaozhang (Shaw) Wan/MEDILL)

12-IMG_0771 — Exhibit organizer Monica Trinidad plans for upcoming programs. (Xiaozhang (Shaw) Wan/MEDILL)

Photo at top: Visitors are welcome to pick up brochures for the exhibition “Do Not Resist: 100 Years of Chicago Police Violence.”(Xiaozhang(Shaw) Wan/MEDILL)