Karima Walker: Graves for the Rain
September 13, 2024 – February 16, 2025
East Wing Galleries
Graves for the Rain is the first solo museum exhibition by artist and musician Karima Walker who works with sound, sculpture, and durational performance to consider ecological practices and grief in response to the hydrological death of the Santa Cruz River. Through recurring performances, Walker builds up an earthen sculpture and an immersive audio piece, accumulating layers of river material and sound over the course of the exhibition. Informed by the history of human intervention to the river and her ongoing sonic engagement with the landscape, Walker endeavors to understand the ways we relate to the land. Attuning to the river through listening and movement, she states, “I’m holding the microphone up to the river’s mouth, circling and circling, grieving in the absence of the body. Can I hear what the river is saying?”
Process-performances by the artist will take place in the gallery throughout the exhibition’s duration beginning at the opening reception on Friday, September 13 at 8pm; and on Sundays at 2pm, on November 3, December 8, January 12, and February 2.
These performances are durational and open-format: visitors are invited to respectfully enter and exit the space at their own discretion. During performances, the artist continually moves fluvial soil. This action may generate dust within the gallery during and immediately following performances. Face masks are available at the front desk.
Graves for the Rain is organized by Alexis Wilkinson, Curator.
This project is supported in part by the Arizona Commission on the Arts, which receives support from the State of Arizona and the National Endowment for the Arts. Generous support for this exhibition is also provided by the Mellon Foundation and MOCA Tucson’s Board of Trustees, Ambassador Council, and Members.
In-kind support provided by Danny Vinik and Mary Ann Brazil and the Downtown Clifton Hotel.
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About the artist
Karima Walker is an artist and musician living in Arizona. She works with research, performance, materials, video, and sound to critically position the mythologies, practices, and policies that shape perceptions and relationships to land. A touring musician for the past 10 years, her work has been featured in Pitchfork, NPR, MTV and The New Yorker Radio Hour. She holds certifications in Deep Listening and Rainwater Harvesting and is currently pursuing an MFA in Expanded Arts at Arizona State University.
Image Credit: Karima Walker, Graves for the Rain performance process documentation, 2023. Photograph by Karima Walker. Courtesy of the artist.