“From the Ground Up: Nurturing Diversity in Hostile Environments” Opens This Friday
iris yirei hu, mud song dream sequence (still), 2024. Video and clay; 24 x 30 x 6. Animation: Shoop Rozario.
Did you know that cultivating a grain can be an act of rebellion? A traditional food in Mexico and Central and South America, amaranth was banned by European colonizers, who assumed that the grain’s association with indigenous religions would interfere with their intent to spread Catholicism.
Inspired by the seed, “From the Ground Up: Nurturing Diversity in Hostile Environments” is a new group show that opens at the Armory Center for the Arts in Pasadena on Friday, August 9.
The project begins before you even enter the Armory, where you’ll spy a vibrant crimson and gold field of amaranth growing in front of the historic 1932 building, a former California Guard armory located on Raymond Avenue in Old Pasadena.
This unique exhibition examines the injustices and traumas of colonization, climate change, racism, and genocide. The artworks were created by a collective made up of indigenous farmers, plantworkers, and artists from Guatemala, the Southwest, and Northern California.
This collective, “Malaqatel Ija, Semillas Viajeras, Seed Travels” comprises the Achi, Spanish, and English words for “seed travels.” (If you’re not familiar with Achi, it’s a Mayan language spoken in the region of Guatemala from which the seeds originated.)
Nikesha Breeze, Stages of Tectonic Blackness: Blackdom, 2021. Stills from two-channel video, sound, color, 29 min. Documentation of a collaborative performance by Miles Tokunow, Nikesha Breeze, and Lazarus Nance Letcher. Cinematographer: MK Kennedy.
“From the Ground Up” is a group show made up of 16 contemporary artists and artist teams exploring nature, technology, and the history of contested spaces while looking toward a more sustainable future.
You’ll be able to attend related activities during the duration of the show, including an Opening Reception Walkthrough with curator Irene Georgia Tsatsos, at 1 p.m. on Sunday, August 10, Amaranth Seed Sharing on September 6, and an Amaranth Cooking Workshop in Altadena on October 6 (you can find more details here)
This exhibition is part of the Getty’s Pacific Standard Time initiative, PST ART: Art & Science Collide, which officially begins on September 15.
You’ll find plenty of metered street parking and low-priced Park & Walk lots nearby. Parking info can be found here.
The Armory Center for the Arts is located at 145 North Raymond Avenue in Pasadena.
