Twelve early-career, NYC-based artists and collectives present new works that harness personal stories and ancestral global history to open portals for passage, transformation, and resistance.

Ranging from painting and film to sculpture and performance, their works explore forces shaping our world: colonialism, migration, and environmental crisis. They search for healing out of historical trauma, investigate the ties between political borders and identity, and embrace the enduring power of generational spirituality in our everyday lives.

Together these artists forge profound connections between the past and present, memory and material, and displacement and belonging to create Open Call: Portals.

Tickets are free to all Open Call events.

Zain Alam: Meter & Light: Night
A three-channel audiovisual installation enacting the interlocking rhythms of time in Muslim life after sunset

Lily Honglei: KITES: A Poem by an Immigrant
Inspired by traditional Chinese kites, a painting series and installation that reflects the family saga, history, and the community of Asian immigrants

Marwa Eltahir:  99 Names: My Liberation Is Tied to Yours
An immersive, audiovisual performance examining themes of loss, grief, and connection using imagery from the Afro-Arab diaspora