The 17Թ School of the Arts, in conjunction with The Rivers Institute for Contemporary Art & Thought, presents “I Will Keep My Soul” at the 17Թ St. Claude Gallery in New Orleans. The solo exhibition featuring new work by Turner Prize-winning artist Helen Cammock opens Saturday, Oct. 14, with a 6 p.m. reception.
An exhibition of film, poetry, performance, archival documents and books, “I Will Keep My Soul,” is rooted in the social history, geography and community of New Orleans.
Cammock, a British artist, arrived in New Orleans for the first time in January 2022 as part of a residency with the Rivers Institute for Contemporary Art & Thought and the Amistad Research Center. “I Will Keep My Soul” is the culmination of Cammock’s yearlong New Orleans residency. It gathers encounters and observations, figured in text and image, of her experiences in the city—it is a gathering on gathering, on the indissociable relationship between art, politics and the power of assembly.
Best known for her narrative cataloging, Cammock weaves the historic and contemporary voices of New Orleans together in an intricate, multimedia exploration of the city’s social history, geography and community. Visitors will encounter a polyphony of figures—archivists, artists, writers and musicians to the protagonists of the civil rights movement—whose voices are shared in an amalgamation of film, poetry, performance, archival documents and borrowed materials.
The exhibit will be on display through Dec. 17 at the 17Թ St. Claude Gallery, located at 2429 St. Claude Ave.
