ASU Art Museum to present first solo museum exhibition of Puerto Rican multidisciplinary artist

'Luis Rivera Jimenez: A Brief Proposal on Race and Cultural Cosplay' showcases ASU, CALA Alliance partnership

August 3, 2023

Beginning Aug. 19, the ASU Art Museum will be presenting the first solo museum exhibition of Puerto Rican multidisciplinary artist Luis Rivera Jimenez.

"Luis Rivera Jiménez: A Brief Proposal on Race and Cultural Cosplay" features newly created works completed in 2023 while the artist was in residence with CALA Alliance, a Latino arts organization based in Phoenix that partnered with the ASU Art Museum to achieve their common mission of incubating and accelerating the presence of Latino art in the United States.
 Words on a wall as part of an art exhibit that read "Do I really have to be brown forever?" Luis Rivera Jimenez, prototype for “Phatic Function #2,” 2023. Laserjet printed paper, glue, water, dimensions variable. Courtesy the artist and CALA Alliance, photo by Shaunté Glover Download Full Image

The works in the exhibit, ranging from sculpture and installation to authored texts and audio, offer space for discussion around race, identity and power, expanding upon the artist’s practice, which uses the intricacies of language, political thought and daily experience in the Caribbean to create intentional spaces of learning, conversation and care.

Rivera Jimenez’s sculptural objects and installations pose questions about the dynamics of race and representation. His practice reflects upon and explores the underpinning of what he describes as a “global digital society,” where a relationship between memory, images and symbols can be traced, mapped and proliferated. 

The interactive exhibition is informed by communications, encounters and materials found by Rivera Jimenez during his time in Phoenix. The objects and texts found within the show build on the artist’s accumulation and processing of various tools: discussions, found objects, experiences in contact with communities, digital content, and physical and ephemeral materials.

The exhibition is curated by Alana Hernandez, CALA Alliance curator of Latino art at the ASU Art Museum, with Sade Moore, curatorial assistant at CALA Alliance. It will be on view from Aug. 19 through Dec. 31 at the ASU Art Museum at Nelson Fine Arts Center.

This exhibition showcases, in part, how CALA Alliance and the ASU Art Museum promote the exchange of new ideas, perspectives and experiences among artists, students and the public through various programs, especially those that educate and inspire the public about the richness of the Latinx cultural heritage.

A series of three free in-person programs are offered in conjunction with “Luis Rivera Jimenez: A Brief Proposal on Race and Cultural Cosplay”:

Aug. 19: Opening reception

Aug. 20: Translation and Language Justice in the Borderlands

Sept. 7: Performance

Dec. 1: Karaoke night

More information about these programs and how to register will be available on the museum’s website as details are confirmed.

"Luis Rivera Jimenez: A Brief Proposal on Race and Cultural Cosplay” is made possible by gifts to CALA Alliance’s general operating fund and a grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.

Creativity Tempe campus ASU Art Museum Arts Inclusion Latino / Chicano Faculty Staff Student Community

Communications program coordinator, ASU Art Museum

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ASU center receives grant to amplify voices of Muslim youth Sign with the letters "ASU" on a campus, surrounded by a tree in bloom.

The Center of Muslim Experience in the United States, housed in The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Arizona State University, is working to advance public understanding of Muslims and Islam in the U.S. with a grant from the American Council of Learned Societies, or ACLS.The center’s new program, “Muslims in the Media: Empowering Youth Engagement through Global Perspectives," aims to he...

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ASU center receives grant to amplify voices of Muslim youth

August 3, 2023

The Center of Muslim Experience in the United States, housed in The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Arizona State University, is working to advance public understanding of Muslims and Islam in the U.S. with a grant from the American Council of Learned Societies, or ACLS.

The center’s new program, “Muslims in the Media: Empowering Youth Engagement through Global Perspectives," aims to help journalists overcome gaps in their knowledge of Muslim lived experiences and amplify the voices of Muslim youth. The program is a collaboration between ASU students and students from two universities in India and Sweden. Sign with the letters "ASU" on a campus, surrounded by a tree in bloom. Download Full Image

“Our center’s mission is to document the history of this minority community in the United States. This program and help from the ACLS is another way of contributing to that mission,” said Yasmin Saikia, the center’s co-director. “It’s helping shift the narrative to where they are no longer just the subject of the story but the creators of the story as well.”

According to a 2017 research study by the Pew Research Center, there are an estimated 3.45 million American Muslims in the U.S.

The U.S. Muslim population has grown exponentially, with three in 10 Muslims having arrived in the country from 2010 to when the study was conducted in 2017. Islam is projected to be the second-largest religious minority by 2030.

ASU has a population of over 8,000 Muslim faculty, staff and students. 

The center is one of two programs at universities across the country that received funding from the Luce/ACLS program in religion, journalism and international affairs.

Students at ASU will produce toolkits for responsible reporting that will be shared with journalists as a resource when covering stories about the growing number of Muslim Americans and Islam in the U.S. 

The toolkits will provide resources to challenge Islamophobic narratives, share stories from Muslim youth and highlight Muslims' social and cultural contributions in the U.S., India and Sweden.

When the center launched in 2022, co-directors Chad Haines and Saikia envisioned it as a way to highlight the diversity and creativity of Muslim Americans and showcase their contributions to American society and culture. 

“One of our goals as a center is student success and youth. Youth in the world, and particularly in the Muslim world, but also youth as a student in the United States wanted to define their place in this country,” Haines said. “Giving voices to the students as the makers and creators of these toolkits is extremely important.”

University News Tempe campus Center of Muslim Experience in the United States The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies Academics Community involvement Inclusion Education Grants / Awards Humanities Journalism Faculty Student Staff Community
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