This August, Juxtaposition Arts presents a special collaborative project and exhibit featuring the work of Minnesota-based visual storyteller Nancy Musinguzi, on view in the JXTA Emerson Gallery from August 1–31, 2019. NORTHSIDE: An Oral History Publication and Installation is a multimedia oral history project featuring candid conversations and portraits of North Minneapolis youth that highlights their approach to using art as a catalyst for community-building and social change. Using their background in ethnographic research, cultural anthropology, and photojournalism, Nancy mapped the intergenerational narrative of Cameron Downey, a JXTA alum and Northside native emerging interdisciplinary “anti-disciplinary” artist through their relationships with friends, family, and peers from the region, and identified and anchored the impact of their perspectives on the North Minneapolis community.
Building on Nancy’s work documenting this oral history of North Minneapolis’ youth, NORTHSIDE was expanded upon through a residency with JXTA apprentices. Youth artists in JXTA’s Contemporary Arts Lab took material from Nancy’s interviews and created portraits in collage to complement the stories, and finally, apprentices in JXTA’s Graphic Design Lab designed a Zine so that visitors and community members can take home a piece of this project. The resulting exhibit, August 2019 X Northside, will be on view in the JXTA Emerson Gallery from August 1–31, 2019.
Opening Reception: Thursday, August 1, 6:00PM–8:00PM
Special Gallery Tours with Artist Nancy Musinguzi:
• Friday, August 30, 2019: 4:00PM–5:00PM
• Saturday, August 31, 2019: 2:00PM–3:00PM
Gallery Hours: Monday–Thursday 10:00AM–4:00PM
Gallery Location: 2007 Emerson Avenue North, Minneapolis, MN 55411
All events are free and open to the public.
About the Artist:
Nancy Musinguzi (they/them) is a visual storyteller, teaching artist and freelance photojournalist working and living in Minneapolis, Minnesota. As a documentary photographer chronicling the contemporary American experience through a first-generation Black Immigrant Queer lens, they primarily focus on emerging musicians, artists, performers, community organizers, educators, and other cultural and creative practitioners from the Black Trans-Atlantic Diaspora. Their artist practice consists of blending traditional and experimental approaches to portraiture that captures the authentic experiences of BIPOC & LGBTQ folks with dignity, attentiveness, and patience.
Since 2014, they have installed finished and on-going series in solo and group exhibitions across the nation, and guest-curated gallery shows in collaboration with mid-career and emerging artists, non-profit organizations and foundations, private and public universities, high schools, and grassroots and community organizations. They have also self-published series and collections in 8 photography books, most recently, The Letter Formally Known As Q: an intergenerational portrait of the Queer Immigrant community in Minnesota, in 2018.
Artist website: https://www.nmusinguzi.com/
Photos by Patience Zalanga.