THE COMMUNITY CENTRE : An exhibition that tells the stories of a group of artists whose work reflects a strong, positive, and encouraging engagement with their communities that we wish to inspire everyone in 2020.

During these challenging times, we believe that the notion of the community has become more urgent than ever: we need to turn towards new models of support and collaboration amid the ongoing political and social upheavals. The current climate demands us to be more abundant in the ways in which we think about creativity and support.

For the Salon de Normandy, The Community takes over room 519 with the exhibition “The Community Centre”, in which six artists were invited to reflect upon the notion of community, and what it entails and symbolizes for their artistic practices. Brendan Fowler, Marisa Takal, Jesús ‘Bubu’ Negrón, Lele Saveri, Aaron Wiggs & Andrew Price, and Violet Cheverez all work with different collaborative practices and media. For room 519 we asked them to contribute to the exhibition by asking them to present something that speaks of their personal relationship with their communities: for one, this means sharing a warm meal with neighbors in the nearby parking lot, for another, organizing a side-walk sale event with friends to raise money in support of Black Lives Matter. One artist creates limited t-shirt editions for education and fundraising events, one organizes an art exhibition with friends in a nearby park, while another considers the local community as the artist.

What combines them is the accessibility and open-mindedness of their actions: anyone around them can participate and contribute the way they wish. Their work shows that connecting with one’s chosen family can be done in multiple ways and various spaces: in the neighborhood and by taking over the streets, parks, parking lots.

By presenting these works and diverse ways of community engagement, The Community wishes to urge dialogue that resonates widely across places, languages, cultures, and aesthetics, as well as personal and political contexts. For us, ‘The Community Centre’ epitomizes our founding values: organic collaborations that are inclusive, multidisciplinary, and speak of a vision of community. This is reflected in the multidisciplinary Salon de Normandy which inaugurated last year, gathering an international community of exhibition spaces, projects, collectives, publishers, and experimental music labels to create a unique universe for discovery, curiosity, and exchange.

In The Community’s future space in Pantin, which will be opened soon, we wish to contribute to mutual respect and understanding among our (future) communities, which will hopefully, in turn, bring forward positive actions and social change within our communities.

@brendanfowlerdm8h943
@marisatakal126
jesusbubunegron.com
@8ballcommunity & 8ballcommunity.club
@sorrymydude & @andrewlprice
@24hour.flowers