sawcc visual arts exhibition 2023

The South Asian Women’s Creative Collective (SAWCC) is pleased to announce a call for submissions for our upcoming visual arts exhibition, Social Memory: Sites of Remembrance, curated by Shilpi Chandra and presented at Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, Blackburn 20|20 Gallery from March 16 – April 9th, 2023 with an opening reception on Thursday, March 16.

Curatorial Proposition How does a group share, convey and sustain memories? What are the amorphous ideas and emotions that bind it together and pull it apart? SAWCC has had a long and vibrant history as an arts collective, while continuing to evolve and grow in new directions. SAWCC’s upcoming visual arts exhibition seeks to investigate the idea of social memory and explore the connection between social identity, collective knowledge, and historical memory.

Our experience of the present is inexorably informed by the past; meanwhile, social memory emphasizes the contexts in which individuals shape their personal and group identities. While collective memories can often be a place of contestation, artists are uniquely positioned to resurrect and reformulate meaning, opening up new modes of collectivity and opportunities for sharing and passing on knowledge.

Artists are encouraged to think about the role of memory, identity, and belonging in their submissions.

The South Asian Women's Creative Collective (SAWCC) is a nonprofit arts organization dedicated to the advancement, visibility, and development of emerging and established South Asian and Indo-Caribbean womxn artists and creative professionals by providing a physical and virtual space to profile their creative and intellectual work across disciplines.