Portland 2019 Biennial at DISJECTA

Curated by Yaelle S. Amir, Elisheba Johnson and Ashley Stull Meyers August 25 - November 3, 2019

Disjecta Contemporary Art Center is pleased to announce the Portland2019 Biennial, co-curated by Yaelle S. Amir, Elisheba Johnson and Ashley Stull Meyers opening on August 24, 2019. Portland2019 is a survey of works by visual and performing artists who are defining and advancing Oregon’s contemporary art landscape. This will be the fifth biennial in Disjecta’s series of biennials, dating back to 2010. Portland2019 aims to examine the form of the ‘regional biennial’ as a locally concentrated infusion of resources for artists in various stages of their careers, through newly commissioned or contextually expanded works. In conjunction with the biennial, Disjecta will host a series of programs and performances throughout the exhibition. A free, public opening reception will be held on Saturday, August 24, 2019 from 6-9pm.

The Portland2019 Biennial will present a survey of work by Oregon based artists whose practices are rooted in a rigorous approach to socio-political commentary, presenting diverse perspectives on historical and contemporary narratives unique to the Pacific Northwest. The exhibition will focus on the nuanced thematics of site, diaspora, and the multifaceted histories of the region as told in eighteen projects. These gestures will address the continuous migration and erasure of communities from the Oregon landscape and, in some cases, serve as an act of preservation and remembrance for their stories. The exhibition will also reflect a layered view of Oregon’s current landscape – observing and commenting on some of the structures and landmarks that populate the state to formative ends. Such objects influence perceptions of the state of Oregon (and the city of Portland) within the country’s pop-cultural imagination and lingering fascination with Manifest Destiny. The selected artists were chosen as those whose current studio practices have been influenced by their relationships to community, landscape, and local politics.

Participating artists:

Will Kate Brown Stand With Indigenous People in Oregon?

By Ka’ila Farrell-Smith

Indigenous people like me are wondering whether Gov. Kate Brown will learn from the best of history – or repeat the worst.

I was a recent college graduate when one of Brown’s predecessors, Gov. Ted Kulongoski, threatened to go to federal court to stop a Canadian company from building a liquefied natural gas (LNG) pipeline across southern Oregon, including ancestral lands of my Klamath Tribe.

Following Kulongoski’s challenge, the company dropped the project. Will Brown follow in Kulongoski’s footsteps, or let the Trump administration railroad through the proposed Jordan Cove fracked gas export terminal and pipeline?

My family’s history of being betrayed by powerful forces goes back more than 150 years. My great-great-great-grandfather was among the signers of a peace treaty between the Klamath Tribe and the U.S government in 1864.

But in 1873, the Army hanged four of the Modoc leaders. My great-grandmother, Emma Ball, then six years old, was forced to watch.

More than a hundred years later, my father filed a landmark federal court case after he was fired from his job for participating in Native American religious ceremonies. As a young girl, I accompanied him to Washington, DC for the Supreme Court hearing. His case led Congress to pass Amendments to the American Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1994.

A few years ago, I went to Standing Rock, where I saw how corporate special interests used state-sponsored violence to impose a fossil fuel project on Indigenous people.

The Jordan Cove fracked gas export terminal and pipeline would jeopardize my ancestral land. The highly flammable, 229-mile pipeline across Oregon would add to fire risks. It would impact nearly 500 waterways. And it would create the largest source of climate pollution in the state, affecting tribal members and all Oregonians.

These are some of the reasons why Jordan Cove is opposed by the Klamath, Siletz, Yurok, Karuk, and Tolowa Dee-ni' Tribes.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has been stacked by President Trump with appointees who have made a career of representing the interests of the oil and gas industry. That means that FERC, which refused Jordan Cove a federal permit before Trump took office, is likely to rubber stamp the project now.

That leaves Governor Brown and our state agencies as the last line of defense for Indigenous people and for all Oregon communities.

Even if FERC grants a federal permit, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, Department of State Lands, and Department of Land Conservation and Development all have authority to deny state permits and certifications. And, like Kulongoski, Brown could go to court to oppose Trump administration moves to force this project on Oregonians.

Instead of a giant new fossil fuel project, Governor Brown should be promoting solar power and other cleaner energy sources, as well as greater energy efficiency.

My family knows from experience that elected officials like Governor Brown can choose whether to be on the right side of history or not. Indigenous people, and all Oregonians, are counting on her to make the right choice.

Ka’ila Farrell Smith is a member of the Klamath Tribe.