if we choose to reclaim ourselves from the ashes: Kimi Hanauer

Thursday, June 2, 2022 - Friday, June 17, 2022

Reception: Friday, June 3, 2022, 5:00 - 8:00 p.m.

A pink flyer with illegible purple text lays on a concrete background. The flyer has been burned and its ashes are falling onto the concrete. In the middle of the image, small white letters over a black bar read, I'm here to dance on the ashes of Art.

If we choose to reclaim ourselves from the ashes transforms the Lainer Gallery into a nightclub and subsequently re-envisions its location, the UCLA Margo Leavin Graduate Art Studios, as a massive concrete tomb. The opening party features music by DJ Hoeteps and SkekMal; drinks by Amanda Kikhuff; wardrobe suggestions and scarves by Bokeum Jeon; and a eulogy by Kimi Hanauer co-performed with Jackie Amezquita, Lukaza Brafman-Verissimo, Kearra Amaya Gopee, and Katie Giritlian.

If we choose… calls on those who gather within it to reclaim ourselves, our labor, our joy, and our agency from the arms and aims of the power-hoarding institutions that we constitute. Through public, celebratory, and intimate modes of gathering, the project aims to hold space for grief and necessary processes of release within this period of collective undoing. Through our gathering—our being with and bearing witness—we make a portal for reclaiming ourselves from the ashes of the world as we know it.

Within the remnants of the party, in the weeks following the opening celebration, community members are invited to participate in Chrysalis Sessions, programs hosted by the Center for Liberatory Practice & Poetry.

Please RSVP for the opening celebration by May 28. Stay up-to-date on the programming information here.

Image description: A pink flyer with illegible purple text lays on a concrete background. The flyer has been burned and its ashes are falling onto the concrete. In the middle of the image, small white letters over a black bar read, “I’m here to dance on the ashes of Art.”

Chrysalis Sessions hosted by the Center for Liberatory Practice & Poetry

Center for Liberatory Practice & Poetry gathers a community of learners around ways of being, sensing, and making that enact liberation in everyday life. Please join us for a series of programs that activate the remnants of the opening night’s celebration.

Tuesday, June 7th, 5 - 7 PM:

PARSING OUR EXITS AS CARE: QUEER FUNERALS & POST-LIFE PRACTICALITIES: Lets (re)imagine our exits: deaths & funerals—as an act of care towards our loved ones, communities, and selves. How can confronting death’s inevitability yield agency for queers today? In this workshop, we will be addressing components of post-life: from will-writing to digital asset management to commemorative playlists, and on. Facilitated by Emary Parisi. Trigger warning: discussions around death and funerals. Please RSVP by June 5th.

Tuesday, June 14th, 5 - 7 PM

WEAVING OUR VALUES & PRACTICES: The Center for Liberatory Practice & Poetry’s Values & Practices are a living and breathing set of agreements that invite those of us who gather through the Center to ground ourselves within a collectively-sourced vision of autonomous and liberated communities. At this workshop, we will reflect on the intuitions, embodied knowledge, and emotional sensibilities that guide us through everyday life. Through this process, we will surface values and practices that have personal significance to each of us. Attendees will be invited to contribute their reflections to be published on the Center’s online resource library. Facilitated by Kimi Hanauer. Please RSVP by June 12th.

Saturday, June 18th, 2 - 4 PM

DANCING THROUGH PRISON WALLS DANCE JAM: Please join us for the first in-person iteration of Dancing Through Prison Walls’ weekly dance jam co-hosted by choreographer Suchi Branfman and a crew of formerly incarcerated and “free world” folks who have been dancing together virtually since March 2020. Please RSVP</a< by June 16th.

Opening Celebration Wardrobe Suggestions

~ by Bokeum Jeon ~

—Eclipse—Flames—Ashes—

—Chrysalis—Rebirth—Bloom—

—Dance—Disco—

—Party—

‘formal’ with a twist: pop-of-color, reflective/shimmer

colors: black-pink-white

layers: ability-to-transform

shoes: ready-to-stomp&dance

The exhibition will be on view by appointment June 3 - 18. Please email kimihanauer@gmail.com to schedule a viewing. The gallery is wheelchair accessible and has an outdoor area for food and drink.

See you there :)

All attendees must comply with UCLA COVID-19 vaccination, testing, and masking protocols.

The Alice and Nahum Lainer Family Gallery
at the UCLA Margo Leavin Graduate Art Studios
3600 Hayden Ave.
Culver City, CA 90232

Gallery Hours:
Monday – Friday, 10 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
RESERVATIONS REQUIRED