Tues, Aug 4th, 7pm EDT. Artist Talk and Q&A with Nirmal Raja: On “Feeble Barriers” and “The Wall Within”

Join SAWCC for an Artist Talk and Q&A with Nirmal Raja on Tuesday, August 4, 7PM EDT / 6PM CDT! Raja will be speaking about her latest project, Feeble Barriers, which documents the voices of healthcare workers during the COVID-19 crisis. The series, which has resulted in an installation at Grove Gallery in Milwaukee, on view through July 31st, highlights how Black and Brown folks have been disproportionately hit by the pandemic. 

Raja will also discuss her participatory installation The Wall Within. On-view at 5 Points Gallery in Milwaukee through the end of August, the work incorporates Rabindranath Tagore’s poem, Where the Mind Is Without Fear, to consider systemic change as a slow and continual labor of love. Watch the accompanying 7:26 min. video performance for the work before the talk, here also embedded below.

RSVP here to receive the zoom link for this event: bit.ly/sawcc-nirmal-raja! 

While this event is free and open to all, we encourage you to donate to The Milwaukee Freedom Fund in support of the local Black Lives Matter movement in Raja’s city: http://bit.ly/mkefreedomfund

About the artist

Nirmal Raja is an interdisciplinary artist living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She had lived in India, South Korea, and Hong Kong before immigrating to the United States thirty years ago. She holds a BA in English Literature from St. Francis College in Hyderabad, India; a BFA from the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design; and an MFA from the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. She has participated in solo and group shows in the Midwest, nationally, and internationally. She is the recipient of several awards, including “Graduate of the Decade” from University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. She collaborates with other artists and strongly believes in investing energy into her immediate community while also considering the global. She curates exhibitions that bring people from different cultures and backgrounds together. She was a mentor at RedLine Milwaukee, a community arts incubator for six years and is now a mentor for the Milwaukee Artists Resource Network. 

www.nirmalraja.com

Nirmal Raja, The Wall Within


Image credits: 1) Nirmal Raja, Feeble Barriers, 2020. 75 hand-embroidered and machine-stitched cotton organdy masks. Courtesy of the artist; 2) Nirmal Raja, The Wall Within. Cast plaster and fabric, fabricated wooden structure, acrylic paint and video performance. Video cinematography and co-editing by Maeve Jackson. All images courtesy the artist.