Exorcism = Liberation

2024

A yellow lawn sign with a QR code that reads, “What is your first memory of dirt?,” is surrounded by election campaign signs on a sidewalk in Chicago.

A crowd gathers on the sidewalk in Chicago in front of Co-Prosperity's 6 windows. The windows are covered with a large, red vinyl mural that reads “Exorcism = Liberation” with a QR code.

On the stone, historical building of The Clemente Center, two yellow vinyl murals that read “What is your first memory of dirt?” with a QR code frame the gate entry of Clemente.

A crowd gathers in the Invisible Dog Art Center's garden around the artist Yanira Castro and Creative Producer Ariel Lembeck wearing “Exorcism = Liberation” t-shirts. Photo by Argenis Apolinario.

A.P.E. Ltd's roll gate in Northampton, MA is covered with a large, blue vinyl mural that reads “I came here to weep” with a QR code.

Performer Martita Abril surrounded by an audience at The Chocolate Factory Theater in Queens. She is dressed from head-to-toe in red and wears a large red mask with spikes. Photo by Maria Baranova.

A crowd gathers on a Queens, NY sidewalk in front of the Chocolate Factory Theater's roll gate, covered with a red vinyl mural reading “Exorcism = Liberation” with a QR code. Photo by Maria Baranova.

A yellow banner with a QR code that reads, “What is your first memory of dirt?,” hangs in the Center for Performance Research's storefront window in Brooklyn, NY. Photo by Elyse Mertz.

A handmade, white, papier-mâché bowl holds stickers and pins in blue, yellow and red with QR codes and the project’s slogans written on them. Photo by Argenis Apolinario.

A blue lawn sign with a QR code that reads, “I came here to weep,” stands in Humboldt Park. It is part of the disbursing of 600 lawn signs in Chicago with Experimental Sound Studio.

A seated circle of people, part of a conversation on grief at ISSUE Project Room in NYC. A blue banner with a QR code reading “I came here to weep” hangs on the back wall. Photo by Noele Contreras.

“Exorcism releases its 'campaign' materials within the frenzied run-up to a United States presidential election. Instead of making promises — that hallmark of political campaigns — it asks questions. Who are you? Where are you? How did you get here? Are you represented? And if you’re not, …?”

— Nicole Loeffler-Gladstone for ALL ARTS, In Yanira Castro’s Exorcism = Liberation: The Body is Land

“A communal body is a liberated body.”

— maura nguyễn donohue for CULTUREBOT, What is a liberated body? “Talking” Exorcism = Liberation with Yanira Castro

Exorcism = Liberation (2024) is a public art project that took the form of a political media campaign during a critical American election. It utilized familiar campaign materials–distributing 10,000 stickers, posters, handmade banners, 800 lawn signs and 2,500 pins–to immerse the public in sonic experiences through a QR code. These intimate, poetic, audio pieces investigate our relationship to land, self-determination, migration, and climate disaster through the lens of Puerto Rican culture and the U.S.’ ongoing colonial history.

Taking place in New York City, Chicago, and the Connecticut River Valley of Western Massachusetts–home to large Puerto Rican diasporas–the public was invited to gather and have conversations with neighbors, community members, and colleagues during the run up to the election. The project involved over 25 local community and art organizations and held over 25 community gatherings and events.

Team

Concept, Script, & Direction: Yanira Castro

Audio Design: Erica Ricketts

Graphic Design: Alejandro Torres Viera, Luis A. Vázquez O’Neill

Audio Performance: Melissa DuPrey, josé alejandro rivera, Steph Reyes

Bomba: Michael Rodríguez

Creative Producer: Ariel Lembeck

Project Management: Tyler Rai, Olana Flynn

Audio Description: Andrew Chapman

Press Contact: Janet Stapleton

Live Performances: Martita Abril & devynn emory

Hubs

Hubs are partnering organizations that supported the project by hosting an event, banners or a vinyl mural, and/or served as a place in which the public could find the project’s campaign materials.

Peoria, Potawatomi, Myaamia, Kaskaskia, Kiikaapoi Lands / Chicago

21C Museum Hotel Chicago

Experimental Sound Studio (ESS)

Guerrilla Art Collective / ARTivism Program at Curie Metro HS

Honeycomb Network

La Huerta Roots & Rays Garden

Lumpen Magazine

The National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts & Culture

Public Media Institute / Co-Prosperity

UrbanTheater Company

Lenapehoking / New York City

Abrons Arts Center

Center for Performance Research (CPR)

CENTRO (Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College

The Chocolate Factory Theater

The Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural & Educational Center

Invisible Dog Art Center

ISSUE Project Room

Lower Manhattan Cultural Council

Nonotuck, Nipmuc, Pocumtuc Lands / Massachusetts

Amherst College Frost Library

Amherst College La Causa

Amy H. Carberry Fine Arts Gallery at Springfield Technical Community College

A.P.E (Available Potential Enterprises) Ltd.

Holyoke Public Library

Holyoke Media

Lighthouse

Nuestras Raíces

UMass Fine Arts Center

W.E.B. DuBois Library at UMass Amherst

Presentations

View a list of 25+ project events

Video

Press

Nicole Loeffler-Gladstone for ALL ARTS Field Notes, In Yanira Castro’s Exorcism = Liberation: The Body is Land

maura nguyễn donohue for CULTUREBOT, What is a liberated body? “Talking” Exorcism = Liberation with Yanira Castro

Sebastián Meltz-Collazo for The Latinx Project, Yanira Castro on Exploring Memories Toward Collective Freedom

Lauren Wingenroth for Dance Magazine, Yanira Castro’s Exorcism = Liberation Is a Public Art Campaign for Divided Times

Catherine Tharin for The Dance Enthusiast, THE DANCE ENTHUSIAST ASKS: Yanira Castro/a canary torsi about Her Latest Public Art Event, “Exorcism = Liberation”

The Fabulous 413 for 88.5 NEPM, September 11, 2024 episode, Debatable (14 min into the podcast)

Donnabelle Casis for 101.5FM WHMP, Artbeat

Elise Linscott for The Daily Hampshire Gazette, Exorcism = Liberation at A.P.E. Gallery aims to inspire reflections on self, community

Funding

Exorcism = Liberation is an extension of Yanira Castro / a canary torsi’s I came here to weep, a multimodal participatory project enacted by the public and supported by Creative Capital.

Exorcism = Liberation was stewarded locally in Western MA by A.P.E. Ltd. in partnership with the UMass Fine Arts Cente r and by Experimental Sound Studio in Chicago. It was made possible by the generous support of the Creative Capital Foundation, a Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant, and the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council’s Arts Center Residency.

Works