An exploration of the expansionist ideology of Manifest Destiny, its continuing impact on multicultural communities in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond, as well as its legacies of inherited and perpetuated violence, trauma, addiction, and the outgrowths of resistance and resilience to Manifest Differently
Manifest Differently is a multifaceted project featuring 38 multigenerational artists and poets. Using literary, visual, and media arts storytelling in conjunction with public programming, the collaboration will interrogate the expansionist ideology of Manifest Destiny, its continuing impact on multicultural communities in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond, its legacies of inherited and perpetuated violence, trauma, and addiction, and the outgrowth of resistance and resilience – giving fire to movements for social change. As recognized in Argentina’s National Commission on the Disappearance of Persons in 1983, South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 1996, and others that have followed, we must acknowledge and witness the impacts of our history before we can move forward, otherwise the same injustices will be repeated, as we have seen most recently in the case of Israel’s genocidal treatment of Palestinians.
Storytelling is a powerful tool to help provide deep witness, compassion, and inspiration.
Manifest Differently was conceived and developed by poet/artist Kim Shuck and CAMP co-director/ artist / writer Megan Wilson and is co-curated by Shuck, Wilson, Trisha Lagaso Goldberg, Amy Berk, and Katayoun Bahrami with support from California historian Barbara Berglund Sokolov, CAMP communications director Veronica Torres, and humanities advisors Mary Jean Robertson, Kyoko Sato, Fuifuilupe Niumeitolu, Anita Chang, and David A.M Goldberg. Audiences were introduced to the history of Manifest Destiny and the forward vision to Manifest Differently through the lens of a diverse multigenerational team of artists and poets, whose histories and experiences include those of American Indian/Indigenous, Asian American, Pacific Islander, Black/African American, Hispanic/Latinx, Southwest Asian, and North African (SWANA), and white/European American descent.
The project was exhibited in 2023/24 in collaboration with the following presenting partners – Clarion Alley Mural Project (CAMP,) Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA), Artists’ Television Access (ATA), Minnesota Street Project (MSP), San Francisco Public Library, Book Castle, the Beat Museum, Book Castle, San Francisco State University, and Stanford University.
Participating poets, artists, and humanities scholars include:
Poets: Aileen Cassinetto, Avotcja, Clara Hsu, Dena Rod, E.K. Keith, Fuifuilupe Niumeitolu, Genny Lim, Josiah Luis Alderete, Kim Shuck, Lauren Ito, Linda Noel, Lourdes Figueroa, Mahnaz Badihian, Maw Shein Win, MK Chavez, Stephen Meadows, Tongo Eisen-Martin, Tureeda Mikell, Voulette Hattar
Visual and Media Artists: Adrian Arias, Afatasi, Amy Berk, Anita Chang, Barbara Mumby-Huerta, Biko Eisen-Martin, Carolyn Castaño, Chris Gazaleh, Katayoun Bahrami, Kim Shuck, l. frank manriquez, Marcel Pardo Ariza, Megan Wilson, Rene Yung, Shaghayegh Cyrous, Shonna Alexander, Vaimoana Niumeitolu, Victoria Canby
Humanities Scholars: Dr. Anita Chang, Dr. David A.M. Goldberg, Dr. Fuifuilupe Niumeitolu, Dr. Kyoko Sato, Mary Jean Robertson
Photo Credits: Robert Herrick Divers, 2024
Biko Eisen-Martin
Too many bullets to call herself,
Breonna Taylor sleep.
America doesn’t want you saving lives.
My art Kenneth Walker, proud firing and free,
Surviving Civil War aftershocks & afterbattles.
Gentrification fulfilling reconstruction’s promise
Through the business end of extrajudicial killings.
Ancestors drifting up and down the Ohio River,
Breonna Taylor will sleep; no more.
-Biko Eisen-Martin
Linda Noel and Megan Wilson
18 Treaties with California Tribes is a work in progress by Linda Noel; the exhibited piece is an excerpt from a much larger body of work, addressing the 18 treaties that Indigenous communities were forced to sign by the U.S. Government.
Between 1851 and 1852, the United States Army under the direction of President Fillmore forced Tribal communities indigenous to ‘California’ to sign 18 treaties that relinquished Indigenous rights to their ancestral lands in exchange for designated land reservations, stallions, cows, bulls, mules, horses, seeds, tools, thread, fabric, scissors, thimbles, needles, blankets, clothes, iron, and steel. The treaties Native Peoples signed were treaties of “peace and friendship” that would “forever guarantee” their “protection” while providing eighteen reservations (about 11,700 square miles, one-seventh of California) as homelands for Indigenous Peoples.
When the 18 treaties were introduced in the U.S. Senate, it was determined white Californians strongly objected to the treaties. Due to pressure from California representatives, Congress failed to ratify the 18 California Treaties, instead ordering them to remain secret. The Tribal communities were never informed of this decision; instead, Tribal families walked, some across the entire state, to the areas they had been promised. There they waited, starved and impoverished for the peace, friendship, protection, and provisions they had been promised, and forever guaranteed.
The United States never delivered.
To this day the land remains unceded by California’s Native Tribes.
Stitches centers on the crisis in the Middle East. How can we move forward as Jews, as Arabs, as global citizens, as progressives in a way that brings us together as a global community while maintaining safety for everyone after generations of trauma? After October 7, I can’t do any other work but address this current crisis of antisemitism that is infecting seemingly everything and everybody and the Palestinian horror. Everything and everybody seems torn apart, in tatters and stitched together.
In Stitches, materials from both my family history (Ashkenazi Jew from the Pale of Settlement) and that of diasporic Palestinians, both found and gifted, are stitched together, highlighting our profound connections in all their messy, complicated and tortuous ways. The stains of the used tableware and napkins, their use and disuse, are on display. Included is a used bedding comforter—what comfort could this item bring now, and to who? What comfort can we find as spoiled/soiled promises and cumulative rents/tears in the fabric of social responsibility continually charge this appalling situation with its dreadful and long-lasting aftereffects on everyone involved? Can we show that there is more than a binary here? How can we manifest this differently?
-Amy Berk
Gallery 211 – Adrian Arias and Afatasi The Artist
Walls:
Adrian Arias, Inner Journey, 2024, ink on paper
This snail, who carries its shell in a suitcase, symbolizes the spirit of resilience, perseverance and the struggle of migrants in the midst of constant change. The image is also intended to reflect the deep inner visions that one encounters on the often challenging path to transcendence.
Adrian Arias, Pacha Mama, what makes a new place feel like home?, Acrylic, ink, collage and watercolor on paper, 2024
This work, which depicts a suspended suitcase cradling the essence of Mother Earth, symbolizes reverence for the environment and floating between memory and new beginnings. In the labyrinth of life, spending time in unexplored territories becomes the art of putting down roots, weaving belonging into the unfolding tapestry of existence.
Just Above Ground:
Afatasi the Artist, The Journey Series (maquettes), steel scrap, 2021-2023
A century ago, Afatasi the Artist’s grandfather served as a scrap metal worker. These sculptures were made in honor of his memory and are a testament to the centuries long history of African American blacksmiths and steelworkers.
The artist elects to work with metal as a resilient, time honored material. These works are formed as the result of extensive experimentation, with nods to the practice of scariciation and aiming to depict scenes of stories that relate to global migration, movement, and liberation.
Sourcing metal locally in San Francisco adds an element of unpredictability for the artist, as the pieces from which she builds come from other steel workers’ larger projects. This challenge is embraced with an open-minded approach, celebrating the community’s beauty, skill, and generosity. The creative process unfolds spontaneously, with changes and improvisations occurring in response to the evolving work. This unpredictability is a cherished aspect of the artist’s practice, allowing each sculpture to emerge without a predetermined plan, transforming into a singular statement and work of art.
Marcel Pardo Ariza
Marcel Pardo Ariza, Hire Trans Folks, T-shirts, 2023
Hire Trans Folks is a call to action for employers, especially managers, to hire more trans employees. Unemployment is one of the biggest barriers trans people face today, both nationally and internationally. The mural, located on Clarion Alley in the Mission District, offers more details and context on how to make the workplace more inclusive, while also providing financial stability, job security, gender affirming healthcare, access to all gender restrooms, and a sustainable future for trans people.
-Marcel Pardo Ariza
Manifest Differently
Presented by Clarion Alley Mural Project
Feb 1-Mar 16, 2024
Tree by Adrian Arias
Thank you for coming on this journey with us!
In an effort to manifest differently together, we invited visitors to leave a thought or response on a post-it note and help the tree to grow.
