Helina Metaferia Exhibition Magnets

‍What We Carry to Set Ourselves Free is a solo project by interdisciplinary artist Helina Metaferia that engages both the interior and exterior of the museum. The research-based project is an extension of the artist's ongoing By Way of Revolution series, which foregrounds the often-overlooked labor of BIPOC women and gender-marginalized people within activist histories, and their continued contributions within today's social justice movements.

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The exhibition includes a hand made collage replicated as a large scale vinyl mural, a text based installation, a wearable sculpture, a video performance, and an interactive live performance at the museum on October 12. Timed to coincide with the 2024 national presidential election, the objects and performance in this project allude to the contradictory weight and liberation that embodied activist histories can bring, which gets referenced explicitly in the exhibition's title.