Visit Constelación: Radical Publishing in the Americas.

This project aims to document the various ways in which cultural workers across the Western Hemisphere reimagine curation and the presentation of culture in the wake of widespread institutional critique. There are contemporary instances of radical curatorial activism, constellatory thinking, and ethical care work that already build the reality that Firmin imagines. However, this work is being done outside of the museum itself. In line with Gopinath’s attention to the often-ephemeral nature of subaltern sites of history, this project considers radical publishing practices as the foil to the contemporary museological system. It asks:

In what ways are radical publishing practices serving to curate and present culture? How can they serve as models or alternatives for contemporary museums to engage in decolonial and decannonizing work?

In order to answer these questions, this project charts a constellation of collaborative cultural production and dissemination. If a museum must serve as the “archive of the commons,” why not get rid of museum walls altogether? Why not go into—and break—the archive itself?