Tania Bruguera’s The Francis Effect: Noah Simblist and Angélica Cházaro in conversation
Tania Bruguera: The Francis Effect is a new publication about the noted Cuban artist and activist and her provocative performance The Francis Effect (2014 – ongoing). Join curator, educator, and the book’s editor Noah Simblist for a presentation on the project, followed by a conversation with UW professor Angélica Cházaro about the ways in which the performance relates to immigration, detention, and refugee law, nationally and locally. As a collaborative project, the book mirrors Bruguera’s artistic practice with essays and conversations with the artist and the curators who supported its presentation. In addition, the book-project includes commissioned essays by art historian Our Literal Speed; sociologist Saskia Sassen; and historian Nicolas Terpstra.
ABOUT SIMBLIST
Noah Simblist (UW MFA 1999) edited the new book Tania Bruguera: The Francis Effect. He is associate professor and former chair of Painting + Printmaking at Virginia Commonwealth University (Richmond). As a curator, writer, and artist, he works on the ways in which contemporary artists address history, sovereignty, and the tensions between political forces and self determination. Simblist has contributed to Art in America, Art Agenda, Art Journal, Terremoto, and other publications. His curatorial projects include Commonwealth at the Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University (2020), Conjunctions and Disjunctions at Black Ground in Cali, Colombia (2022), Summer Sessions: Commonwealth at the ICA at VCU (2019), Aissa Deebi: Exile is Hard Work at Birzeit University Museum in Palestine (2017), False Flags at Pelican Bomb in New Orleans (2016), and Emergency Measures at the Power Station, Dallas (2015).
ABOUT CHZARO
Angélica Cházaro is Assistant Professor of Law at the UW and teaches Critical Race Theory, Poverty Law, Professional Responsibility, and courses on Immigration Law. She received a Ford Foundation fellowship to work with the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project (NWIRP) in Seattle. During her seven years at NWIRP she specialized in representing immigrant survivors of violence and directed one of the organization's offices in Eastern Washington, focusing on providing immigration legal services to farmworkers. Professor Cházaro served as a chief negotiator during a 56-day hunger strike at the Northwest Detention Center, representing immigrant detainees. She has been interviewed in national and international news outlets for her work on behalf of immigrants. She is a member of the Blue Ribbon Commission convened by the National Day Laborer's Organizing Network to provide the Executive Branch with recommendations on administrative relief for undocumented people.