Xicanx: Dreamers + Changemakers
Xicanx: Soñadores + Creadores del Cambio
organized and presented by the Museum of Anthropology at University of British Columbia 2022–2023
NOW TRAVELING
The Contemporary
San Antonio, Texas
Exhibition Dates: June 7 - September 8, 2024
The artists in this exhibition are dreamers and changemakers. They all self-identify as Xicana, Xicano, or Xicanx (Mexican Americans). Many are part of a rich tradition of visual artists and activists who began their work as part of the El Movimiento (the Chicano/a civil rights movement) of the 1960s and 70s, some are part of the next generation who continue the work of addressing personal, social and political issues in their art. By adapting, refining, refocusing, and revisioning, each artist in their own way is an activist.
JILL BAIRD, MOA CURATOR
Xicanx: Dreamers + Changemakers was the first major Xicanx group exhibition in Canada. The exhibition features 40 works, and is organized around the themes of neighbourhoods, identity, borderlands, home and activism. All of the artworks shown were produced between 1970 and 2022, with some created during El Movimiento and newer ones addressing identity, equality, social justice and racism.
In recent years, much has been reported about the U.S.–Mexico borderlands; too little has been presented from Xicanx perspectives. This exhibition brings these voices into the conversation, highlighting Xicanx quotes, poems, fragments of speeches or dichos (sayings), and artists’ perspectives on their own work.
Digitized ephemera from exhibitions, publications, and special projects, hundreds of art images with details, and a video library.
