MEDIA ADVISORY: September 11, 2020
CONTACT: Ben Roussel,
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, 202-210-3112
Criminal justice reform advocates, artists to host #WeAreAllRikers web teleconference presenting ‘Rikers Quilt’
Art installation inspired by Mayor DeBlasio’s lack of urgency in closing Rikers
NEW YORK – On Saturday, September 12, the National Religious Campaign Against Torture and other national and local criminal justice reform advocates and artists will host a web teleconference to draw attention to government inaction and presenting the Rikers Quilt, a 20’ x 24’ mobile installation currently on display at MoMA PS1.
Created by artist Jesse Krimes, the 20’ x 34’ quilt contains 3,650 panels cut from prison bedsheets and representing each day over the next 10 years, after which Mayor DeBlasio projects Rikers Prison to finally close.
WHAT: #WeAreAllRikers Rikers Quilt webconference
WHEN: September 12, 12:00 p.m.-2:00 p.m. EST
WHO:
- Artist Jesse Krimes
- Johnny Perez, Director of U.S. Prison Programs, National Religious Campaign Against
- Leading criminal justice reform advocates from CA, CT, GA, LA, MA, NJ, NY, PA, TX, VA
WHERE:
- Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_IFBDA5AqRwOU8LfjvpjAlw
- Instagram: @MoMaps1
- #WeAreAllRikers can also be viewed live at Court Square Park, Court Square & Jackson Ave, Long Island City, NY 11101
About the Rikers Quilt:
The Rikers Quilt is a monumental mobile art installation created by artist Jesse Krimes as a way to contemplate the devastating costs of waiting another decade to close Rikers Island, and the impact of positioning punishment and enforcement as a first-response to social problems. The 20’ by 34’ quilt is comprised of 3,650 prison bedsheet squares—one for each day of harm inflicted over ten years. The quilt’s interior features images of wounds and abuse inflicted by police, correctional officers, and others on Rikers Island. Representational and abstract imagery on the quilt’s surface includes idealized renderings of the new jails. The bedsheets produced by incarcerated labor reference enduring enslavement and the function of hiding and covering incarcerated bodies.
About the exhibit:
Krimes’ work is featured in the upcoming Marking Time: Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration exhibit at MoMA PS1, which highlights more than 35 artists and has been updated to reflect the growing COVID-19 crisis in US prisons, featuring new works by exhibition artists made in response to this ongoing emergency. The exhibit will be open Sep 17, 2020–Apr 4, 2021.
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The National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT) mobilizes people of faith and directly impacted Mass Incarcertion to end torture in U.S. policy, practice, and culture. A nationally recognized interfaith membership organization based in Washington, DC, NRCAT is comprised of more than 300 religious organizations and more than 75,000 individuals have participated in our programs and activities. Our diverse partners share a common commitment to advancing the values of human dignity, human rights and an end to torture, without exception. To achieve its mission, NRCAT engages in grassroots organizing, public education, and state and national policy advocacy.
