“Defy the Design” invited artists and poets to respond to the idea that oppression has been designed into our systems and, in order to get free, we must actively defy the designs that work to keep us away from our liberation. We asked: “In what ways can we maintain and grow connection, despite the ways we are meant to be isolated? How do we build political power across difference and distance? How do we refuse while inside the belly of the beast? What is a different way of being in community where our dreams become possible?” Over 64 incarcerated artists, and 40 artists in solidarity with ending mass incarceration submitted a total of 175+ artworks! Alongside the visual art, 63 poets in prison are publishing poetry in the show.
Read the original Call for Art & Poems for this show to learn more about our process.
