In Conversation with Dora García

Join artist Dora García and Senior Curator-at-Large Ruth Estévez for a conversation about EXILE (2012–present): an ongoing, participatory project featured in García’s Rose exhibition Love with Obstacles.

At each institution where EXILE is on view, García invites a select group of authors and artists to send letters reflecting on the concept of “exile” and its myriad meanings. It is the decision of the addressee—most often the director of the institution or curator of the exhibition—to decide which letters will be opened, and which will remain sealed. Visitors are invited to handle and read opened letters, which are shown as an assembled collection. The project has been presented at and now includes letters sent to the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv, Israel; Rupert, Vilnius, Lithuania; Torcuato Di Tella University, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Punkt0 Gallery, Moss, Norway; The Powerplant Contemporary Art Gallery, Toronto, Canada; Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art, Rotterdam, The Netherlands; and The Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, Spain to which notes sent to the Rose have been added.

During this unprecedented and uncertain moment, in which many of us are experiencing new forms of self-distancing and separation from our workplace, our loved ones, and our communities, our understanding of “exile” has gained yet another resonant layer. The Rose Art Museum galleries are temporarily closed, and museum staff are working remotely, and thus EXILE letters sent to the museum remain unopened, and off view. In advance of this conversation about her project and how her own understanding of “exile” has deepened, García has shared scans of some of her own letters mailed to the museum. A selection is published below.

This program is organized in conjunction with the exhibition Dora García: Love with Obstacles. While our physical galleries are temporarily closed, the exhibition can be virtually explored through online materials and installation images.