Soundings - An Exhibition in Five Parts

How can a score be a call and tool for decolonization? Curated by Candice Hopkins and Dylan Robinson, Soundings: An Exhibition in Five Parts features newly commissioned scores, performances, videos, sculptures and sound by Indigenous and other artists who respond to this question. Unfolding in a sequence of five parts, the scores take the form of beadwork, videos, objects, graphic notation, historical belongings, and written instructions. During the exhibition these scores are activated at specific moments by musicians, dancers, performers and members of the public, gradually filling the gallery and surrounding public spaces with sound and action. The exhibition is cumulative, limning an ever-changing community of artworks, shared experiences, and engagement as it travels. Soundings shifts and evolves, gaining new artists and players in each location. Some artworks have multiple parts, others change to their own rhythm as the exhibition grows. At the core of the exhibition is a grounding in concepts of Indigenous land and territory. To move beyond the mere acknowledgment of land and territory here means offering instructions for sensing and listening to Indigenous histories that trouble the colonial imaginary. Soundings activates and asserts Indigenous resurgence through the actions these artworks call forth.
Friday, September 23, 5 p.m.
Woodpile Score, A score by Tania Willard performed by Sound Art Collaborative. At KCAI, in the greenspace near KCAI Gallery. 4415 Warwick Blvd., Kansas City, MO 64111. MORE INFO
Friday, September 30, 7 p.m.
Listener, A performance by the artist, Kite. At KCAI, Epperson Auditorium at KCAI. 4415 Warwick Blvd., Kansas City, MO 64111. MORE INFO
Saturday, October 8, 12 noon
NDN Love Songs, A score by Peter Morin performed by Amado Espinoza. At KCAI Gallery. 4415 Warwick Blvd., Kansas City, MO 64111. MORE INFO
Thursday, October 13, 7 p.m.
Woodpile Score, A score by Tania Willard performed by Bird Fleming and the Traditional Music Society. At KCAI, near the KCAI Gallery. 4415 Warwick Blvd., Kansas City, MO 64111. MORE INFO
Wednesday, October 26, 7 p.m.
American Ledger (no. 1), A score by Raven Chacon performed by a local ensemble with Paul Rudy conducting. At Agnes Arts,1328 Agnes Ave. Kansas City, MO 64127. MORE INFO
Thursday, October 27, 6:30 p.m.
A FREE public lecture by artist, Raven Chacon. At Johnson County Community College, Midwest Trust Center, Yardley Hall,12345 College Blvd, Overland Park, KS 66210. MORE INFO