RAISIN

September 17 to December 18, 2021

Open Hours Fridays and Saturdays 1-5pm by RSVP
Tours Sundays at 1pm and 3pm by RSVP
Overnight Stay in a room in the exhibition RSVP
Weekly Programming Saturdays at 4pm on Lumpen 105.5 FM

6018North hosts RAISIN, an exhibition exploring themes from the classic play A Raisin in the Sun (1959) by Lorraine Hansberry. In the 1960s, A Raisin in the Sun was translated into 30 languages, and won the New York Drama Critics’ Circle award in its debut year. Produced in cities around the world, the play has been bringing solidarity to various struggles against injustice; from residential segregation within the United States, migration politics across Europe, class inequality in China, and apartheid in South Africa. With artworks created by Chicago and international artists, the RAISIN exhibition offers local and global perspectives on “home.” Access the full digital catalogue and virtual exhibition at raisin6018.org.

RAISIN features work by: Kioto Aoki (Chicago) / Coletivo Anastácia Berlin (Berlin) / Jared Brown (Chicago) / Marina Viola Cavadini (Milan) / Amy Sanchez Arteaga + Misael Diaz (Cog•nate Collective) (So. California) / Işıl Eğrikavuk (Berlin) / Kyle Bellucci Johanson (Chicago) / Kierah “Kiki” King (Chicago) / Diya Khurana (Mumbai) / Kat Liu (Chicago) / AJ McClenon (Chicago) / Clemens Melzer (Berlin) / Joelle Mercedes (Chicago) / Joseph Mora (Chicago) / Nahum, Ale de la Puente, Juan José Díaz Infante, and Tania Candiani (Mexico City and Berlin) / zakkiyyah najeebah dumas-o'neal (Chicago) / Alessia Petrolito (Turin) / Delilah Salgado (Chicago) / Aaron Samuels (Los Angeles) / Rohan Ayinde Smith (London) / Brett Swinney (Chicago) / Maryam Taghavi (Chicago) / Gloria Talamantes (Chicago) / Tran Tran (Chicago) / Unyimeabasi Udoh (Chicago) / Nayeli Vega (Berlin) / Amanda Williams (Chicago) / Jakob Wirth (Berlin) / Tintin Wulia (Australia) / Zhiyuan Yang (New York) / Nushin Yazdani (Berlin)

The exhibition is led by curator Asha Iman Veal, curatorial assistants Shannon Lin and Esraa, graduate curatorial assistant Ruby Dudasik, and exhibition associates Alexis Brocchi; in collaboration with the 6018North team Tricia Van Eck and Nathan Abhalter Smith. RAISIN opens September 17 as a proud partner of the Chicago Architecture Biennial as they present their fourth edition The Available City. 

Stephen Perry, Ruby Dee, Claudia McNeil, Diana Sands, and Sidney Poitier in A Raisin in the Sun (1961), directed by Daniel Petrie. Courtesy of Columbia Pictures Corporation.

Stephen Perry, Ruby Dee, Claudia McNeil, Diana Sands, and Sidney Poitier in A Raisin in the Sun (1961), directed by Daniel Petrie. Courtesy of Columbia Pictures Corporation.

Our Inspiration

In 1959, Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun debuted on Broadway. In this seminal work, Hansberry wrote about the Youngers, a fictional Black American family in Chicago whose late patriarch has left behind a life insurance policy that the family can use to purchase a home and enter the American middle class. Many challenges block this family’s path, and the four adult Youngers debate their options for self-determination within a race-biased society, and whether to move to an affordable yet segregated neighborhood, where they will not be welcome.

In 2021, this exhibition presents multidisciplinary artworks inspired by the local importance and global reach of Hansberry’s narrative.

“A radical Black woman playwright found her excellent work embraced as an arts-based format to encourage dialogue on inclusion and justice in cities across the world,” says curator Asha Iman. “Even after Lorraine Hansberry’s death, the span of her narrative has grown over the past sixty years.”

Exhibition support for RAISIN (to-date) has been provided by the Alfred Landecker Democracy Fellowship, Humanity in Action, City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Events, and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s Faculty Enrichment Grants. Programming is funded in part by a grant from Illinois Humanities, with funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this project do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Funds for a commissioned storefront project at 1039 W Granville Ave were generously supported by Justine Jentes and Dan Kuruna.

Our programming partners include Chicago Architecture Biennial 2021, Public Media Institute + Lumpen Radio, and the National Public Housing Museum.

Thank you for the generous in-kind support ACRE Projects, LATITUDE Chicago, and Roman Susan Art Foundation.

Asha Iman Veal is a Humanity in Action Landecker Democracy Fellow (EU/UK/USA), and is the Curatorial Fellow at the Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College Chicago. Asha Iman is Assistant Professor Adj. in the Department of Arts Administration & Policy at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where she proposed and developed the Being a Woman of Color in the Arts course, in addition to leading several undergraduate and graduate courses in various departments. Her recent exhibitions include: Beautiful Diaspora/You Are Not the Lesser Part at MoCP (2022); a solo show of work by artist Martine Gutierrez at MoCP (2021); New Dream Center Program 9 at Hyde Park Art Center (2021). She has been an invited juror for Arts + Public Life at The University of Chicago; Center for the Study of Race, Politics, & Culture at The University of Chicago; Experimental Sound Studio; 3Arts; Arts Work Fund; OxBow; and ACRE. Asha has worked on arts projects or research in Edinburgh, Vietnam, Juárez, Havana, Tokyo, and more; and she was an Associate Festival Producer for playwright Eve Ensler’s V-Day global movement to end violence against women and girls (New York). She is a member of the BMW Foundation Responsible Leaders Network (global table), and is a new member of the Board of Heaven Gallery (Chicago). Before transitioning full-time into a career in visual contemporary and multidisciplinary arts, Asha formally studied contemporary narrative and literary practices for many years—seeking stories and creative examples that deepen understanding of contemporary multiculturalism. (B.A. The Gallatin School at New York University, M.F.A. The New School, M.A. School of the Art Institute of Chicago). For more information, please visit www.ashaimanveal.com.

RAISIN is a project supported by 6018North’s Mission and Initiative to advance the next generation of Chicago curators, artists, and writers. 6018North projects are partially supported by 3Arts, the AD3 Innovation Bootcamp Grant, an anonymous donor advised fund at The Chicago Community Foundation, a CityArts Innovation Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events, the Gen Ops Plus Grant from the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, the Field Foundation of Illinois, the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts, IL Humanities, the Illinois Arts Council, the Illinois Arts Council Youth Employment Grant, the Joyce Foundation, The MacArthur Funds for Culture, Equity, and the Arts at the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, the Terra Foundation for American Art, and individual donations.

Press

Chicago Life Magazine “Coming Home,” December 3, 2021 by Sigalit Zetouni (pdf)

SIXTY "Review of RAISIN at 6018North," November 29, 2021 by Susan J. Musich (pdf)

Newcity “A Public Disturbance: A Review of Parasite Parking,” October 6, 2021 by Marina Resende Santos (pdf)

WBEZ “Artists Bring Themes From ‘A Raisin In The Sun’ Home To Chicago,” September 17, 2021 by Natalie Moore (pdf)

Newcity “Today in the Culture: RAISIN Comes to 6018|North,” September 13, 2021 by Ray Pride (pdf)

Wallpaper* “What to see at the Chicago Architecture Biennial 2021,” September 11, 2021 by Audrey Henderson (pdf)

Borderless Magazine “Three Things To Do in Chicago,” September 9, 2021 (pdf)