Top image: Glenn Kaino, In the Light of a Shadow (detail), 2021. Image courtesy of the artist.

Join the Democracy Center at JANM and meet the thinkers, artists, organizers, and civic leaders confronting authoritarianism today. Hear from keynote speakers Agnès Callamard of Amnesty International, Robert Evans of the Behind the Bastards and It Could Happen Here podcasts and Glenn Kaino, an acclaimed contemporary artist. 

Panelists include JANM President and CEO Ann Burroughs, Pulitzer Prize–winning author Viet Thanh Nguyen, Angelica Salas of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, Memo Torres of L.A. Taco, and Hamza Walker, Director of The Brick.

This day-long symposium challenges us to imagine how we can build a democracy that endures by recognizing the threats before us, learning from communities resisting them, and envisioning new civic spaces and shared legacies for the future. The symposium also includes tours of the timely exhibition Monuments at MOCA and a mobile “banned bookmobile” presented by Bloom Wild Bookshop. 

A participatory musical event by Great Leap featuring visionary artist-activist Nobuko Miyamoto inspires us to celebrate memory, joy, and collective action. Groove to the beat, learn the FandangObon circle dance, and add your hopes and wishes to the dance circle’s centerpiece.

This event will be in person and live-streamed. Click HERE for tickets