Emerging Collective adds two events for show detailing police-related deaths

Emerging Collective holds two events this week in conjunction with the . . . and counting exhibition at its new downtown Decatur space. The show, by multidisciplinary artist Ann Lewis, features 1,093 toe tags, each detailing a police-related death in the United States in 2016. It runs through April 12.

At 7 p.m. Thursday, April 4, the Collective will hold a reception and discussion with Lewis and Atlanta artist Maurice Evans, followed by an open-mic town hall centered on solutions to the problem. (Evans replaces the previously scheduled Fabian Williams, who had a scheduling conflict.)

On Saturday, April 6, the Collective will host a daytime activation with young people from neighboring schools, then screen The Hate U Give, a 2018 film that confronts police brutality. Weather permitting, the film will be shown at 8 p.m. on the Collective’s building façade at 115 McDonough St., Building C, across from Decatur High School. A food truck will be on-site, and moviegoers are asked to bring a blanket, cushion or lawn chair as additional seating and to RSVP HERE. The event is free.

Lewis’ installation looks at 2016 because of the events that happened that year. It “saw several reactions to police brutality — Colin Kaepernick’s viral protest, the strengthening of the Black Lives Matter movement and a multitude of news coverage,” Lewis says.

The exhibition  . . . and counting was her way of trying to document the epidemic and create a greater understanding of the issue.

Emerging Collective is a nonprofit that supports artists working at the intersection of activism and the avant-garde and empowers them to become agents of cultural change.