“We Almost Didn’t Make It” is an interactive installation. This project addresses the uncertainties faced by humanity during this moment in history with climate chaos effecting many species and populations around the world. This project explores how we, from our different perspectives, might negotiate the barrage of daily assaults on our psyches by imagining ourselves ancestors and what we might contribute to improve the lives of our descendants.

Visitors to the exhibition walk through trauma curtains sewn from scrap plastic, walk on doormats that represent our discouragements and are offered an opportunity to transform difficult feelings (like despair, rage and grief) into fuel for creative activism. Participants are invited to make an artifact. They are encouraged to imagine some aspect of our world that may or may not exist in 150 years (a species of animal, a food, a plant, a sensation) and create an artifact from found objects that symbolizes that thing. Into that artifact, the participant will place a commitment to an action that might help our descendants or future generations, not only exist, but thrive. Artifacts will then be placed in an area of the installation where our positive aspirations for the future will be clustered. Visitors are invited to explore the different artifacts and read the various commitments to actions. One of our goals is to foster more dialog about ways to move past “dystopic” thinking so that we can continue to be resilient activists no matter how discouraging things may seem. During the month of thisexhibition, two workshops will be facilitated to more deeply address these issues.

The lead artist on this project is Beverly Naidus. Other members of the collective are Carol Rashawna Williams, Ed Mast, Camella Cooper and Matthew Hamilton. We have been working together on different performance and street interventions for the past two years.