Please mark your calendars for an In-Session, presented by Jose Luis Benavides with Nancy D. Sánchez, Amanda Cervantes and Daniel Haddad.
Guiding Work: Mexican American Disambiguation by José Olivarez

Responding to Mexican American Disambiguation by Jose Olivarez, four Latinx artists will discuss their stories and experiences with Latinidad as an identity in constant migration. Jose Luis Benavides and Amanda Cervantes will unpack the poem Mexican American Disambiguation, by analyzing their recent exhibition Bienvenidos Tú y Yo in relation to their own practice as collaborators. This past exhibition focused on themes of migration and their mutual experiences and queer relationships to Mexico, their homelands, their ancestors and gender. For the event portion of the evening, Sánchez and Haddad will connect words and memories surrounding their lived narratives. Through storytelling they will navigate through their own interpretation of multiple Mexican-American disambiguations. The artists will reflect and share with the audience aspects of their sociopolitical and unique cultural perspectives, one as a U.S. born Latinx person and the other as a Mexican born person.

Jose Luis Benavides sees the world primarily through his experience raised by a working-class, queer Latinx single mother in the Chicago community of Logan Square. The convergence of his own queer and intellectual identity mark conflicted point where his artistic practice is defined and undefined.

Amanda Cervantes makes work mainly consisting of archives. She is constantly looking back to the past and thinking about ways that cultural systems and ideas of gender exist and play out within her family and society.

Daniel Haddad creates as an immigrant living in the United States to interact and respond daily with diverse groups of society that make him aware of his identity and integrity.

Nancy Sánchez decided to add the accent mark onto her last name. the accent mark was taken by the us government during the 80’s when her father began legal documentation. sánchez threads together micro moments with her art.

A remix of the traditional lecture or panel, In-Session is a critical interdisciplinary salon that incorporates reading, conversation, and performance together. The salons are focused on a selection from a shared reading list which is compiled based on a theme. Our first In-Session theme is migration. Artists, curators and community members curate the In-Session, selecting the reading and the performers. After the conversation on the selection, it is activated by performance—music, song, poetry, dance or movement.

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Tags: Amanda Cervantes, Daniel Haddad, Humboldt Park, Jose Luis Benavides, Nancy Sánchez, threewalls