On Friday, December 1, ICA presents an all-day screening of ALTERNATE ENDINGS, RADICAL BEGINNINGS, a selection of short videos, in our auditorium. In addition to a poetry reading and publication launch on the evening of November 29, this looping screening is part of ICA’s engagement with the annual Day With(out) Art call to action.

ALTERNATE ENDINGS, RADICAL BEGINNINGS is the 28th iteration of Visual AIDS’ longstanding Day With(out) Art project. Curated by Erin Christovale and Vivian Crockett for Visual AIDS, the video program prioritizes Black narratives within the ongoing AIDS epidemic, commissioning seven new and innovative short videos from artists Mykki Blanco, Cheryl Dunye & Ellen Spiro, Reina Gossett, Thomas Allen Harris, Kia Labeija, Tiona Nekkia McClodden and Brontez Purnell.

This event is free and open to the public.

In spite of the impact of HIV/AIDS within Black communities, these stories and experiences are constantly excluded from larger artistic and historical narratives. In 2016 African Americans represented 44% of all new HIV diagnoses in the United States. Given this context, it is increasingly urgent to feature a myriad of stories that consider and represent the lives of those housed within this statistic. ALTERNATE ENDINGS, RADICAL BEGINNINGS seeks to highlight the voices of those that are marginalized within broader Black communities nationwide, including queer and trans people.

One of the featured artists in ALTERNATE ENDINGS, RADICAL BEGINNINGS, Tiona Nekkia McClodden, is also featured in the ongoing ICA exhibition Speech/Acts. ICA’s galleries will be open from 11AM to 6PM on Friday, December 1 to view Speech/Acts as well as this looping film screening.