VIP: Very Important Platforms at EXPO 2017

published: Aug. 25, 2017

For this year’s EXPO CHICAGO at Navy Pier, 3Arts and 6018North are presenting VIP: Very Important Platforms, a democratic lounge space located on the floor above the fair with interactive installations that, literally and figuratively, call on visitors to take a stance.

Who needs a microphone? Who needs a stage? VIP invites the public to create and build platforms together. 3Arts awardee Aram Han Sifuentes’s Protest Banners Talking Back offers a communal space for people to participate, speak up, and resist. Materials, as well as skills, are shared to create a large communal banner. In this space, voices are supported and everyone is invited to come together in solidarity through making. And making is a form of resistance.

3AP (3Arts Projects) artist Onye Ozuzu’s Project Tool is a dance performance and installation in which a sprung wood dance floor is built. The audience is invited to watch and/or learn the skill of woodworking and reconnect body, task, and tool. What is learned physically, emotionally, and conceptually during the building process, shapes the ongoing performance.

Visitor information:

VIP: Very Important Platforms at EXPO CHICAGO 2017
September 13, 2017 – September 17

EXPO CHICAGO is located at Chicago's historic Navy Pier in the Festival Hall
600 E Grand Ave, Chicago, IL 60611

Open to all EXPO CHICAGO ticket holders.
For more information, visit the EXPO CHICAGO website.

To visit VIP at EXPO:
Take the stairs next to Eataly Cafe or the elevator by the Northern Trust Anchor Lounge.

VIP Schedule:

Protest Banners Talking Back will be active from 12:00 PM to 9:00 PM on Wednesday; 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM Thursday, Friday, and Saturday; and 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM on Sunday.

Artist collaborators: Aram Han Sifuentes, Verónica Casado Hernández, Ishita Dharap, and Tabitha Anne Kunkes.

Project Tool performances will take place as follows:

Wednesday, September 13 – Opening Preview
12:00 PM–4:00 PM: Jessica Marasa and Onye Ozuzu
6:00 PM–9:00 PM: Jessica Marasa and Keyierra Collins and Onye Ozuzu

Thursday, September 14
11:00 AM–2:00 PM: Keyierra Collins and Anna Martine Whitehead
3:00 PM–7:00 PM: Onye Ozuzu and Jessica Marasa

Friday, September 15
11:00 AM–2:00 PM: Keyierra Collins and Jessica Marasa
2:00 PM–5:00 PM: Anna Martine Whitehead
3:00 PM–7:00 PM: Onye Ozuzu

Saturday, September 16
11:00 AM–2:00 PM: Keyierra Collins and Onye Ozuzu
3:00 PM–7:00 PM: Keyierra Collins and Onye Ozuzu and Jessica Marasa

Sunday, September 17
11:00 AM–2:00 PM: Onye Ozuzu
3:00 PM–6:00 PM: Keyierra Collins and Onye Ozuzu

Project Tool
Choreographer: Onye Ozuzu
Movers: Keyierra Collins, Keisha Bennett, Jessica Marasa, and Anna Martine Whitehead
Sound Design: Damon Locks
Visual/Interior Design: Petra Probstner
Wood and Fabrication Consultant: Bryan Saner
Videographer: Jovan Landry

Image: Protest Banner Lending Library installation by Aram Han Sifuentes at the Chicago Cultural Center. Photo by eedahahm.

xt to EXPO VIDEO

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