From Huffbunny, Nicki P:
I wanted to share info about a project I’ve been working on for a few years, one near and dear to my heart, opening in Philly next week, which I know isn’t here, but also isn’t far! File/Life: We Remember Stories of Pennhurst*, runs April 20-23 at the Arch Street Meeting House in Philadelphia and June 20-23 at the state capitol building in Harrisburg, PA. You can reserve free tickets here. The Philadelphia Inquirer published a piece about the exhibit this morning, which can be found here, and includes some (harrowing) historical detail about Pennhurst itself, which was a Pennsylvania-run institution that warehoused people with intellectual and developmental disabilities for nearly 80 years. A bit o’ blurbage below.
File/Life is a community-centered creative exploration of the Pennhurst archives by seven community archivists, all people with disabilities and/or family members, including two former Pennhurst residents. A group of supporting artists created a process through which the community archivists could engage with files from the archives, make connections to the present, and look between the lines and beyond the files for the humanity of the people who were institutionalized there. File/Life showcases the results of the community archivists’ loving research and collaborative artistry, sharing stories in a range of forms: film, erasure poetry, animation, montage, reenactment, interview, embroidery, oral history, and more. File/Life is fully accessible, with open captioning, ASL interpreters on site, audio description, Braille, relaxed hours from 9-10 each morning, and service animal relief areas.
Huffbunnies Make Trainwrecks 