Democracia
Jeremiah series, 2018
Series of 22 photographs
Courtesy of the artist and a/political
A joint commission by a/political and The Station Museum in Houston

 

This series of photographs features Houston members of the Huey P. Newton Gun Club (HPNGC). The photographs were taken by Democracia while shooting ORDER, an operatic work, also on display. HPNGC is an autonomous platform serving as a meeting point for various dissident groups. What can be seen in the photographs, is an open-carry demonstration which Democracia, through the use of politically-charged placards, turned into a radical protest poem. The demonstration of the rights secured by the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States is reflective of the right to self-defence, one of the crucial postulates of the Black Panthers Party for Self-Defense from which the HPNGC descends. Amongst other objectives of the group are the development of power through education and accountability of law enforcement and the criminal justice system. When asked by the group about Democracia’s motivation to collaborate with their organisation and about what their role was within the project’s narrative, their answer was: “as Marx said, ‘The fight against oppression has to be directed by those most oppressed.’ “