Not For Sale: Material Traces of Protest in Chinatown & LES, 2002–Present

<p>In solidarity with decades of community activism in Lower Manhattan, Art Against Displacement presented <em>Not For Sale: Material Traces of Protest in Chinatown & LES, 2002–Present</em> at Citygroup from May 13 to June 3, 2023. This companion zine documents some of the works featured in the exhibition.</p> <p><em>Not For Sale</em> resurfaced protest signs and other ephemera associated with the organizing efforts of the Coalition to Protect Chinatown & LES, spanning from the immediate aftermath of 9/11 to the present day. As an active Coalition member, Art Against Displacement has participated in the production, dissemination, and deployment of protest ephemera since its inception in 2016.</p> <p><em>Not For Sale</em> surveyed the visual character and ingenuity of ad hoc, DIY signage in several defining campaigns of the past two decades: Beyond Ground Zero, the Chinatown Working Group Plan, and actions against luxury development in Two Bridges, the construction of a new jail on the site of the Manhattan Detention Complex (known as the Tombs), and the Museum of Chinese in America’s complicity in local displacement.</p> <p>As creative practitioners, Art Against Displacement recognizes the indispensability of mark-making to collective protest: accordingly, <em>Not For Sale</em> aimed to lift up, assemble, and archive the material creations of anonymous artists, activists, and community members.</p> <p>Released, in an open edition, at the East Village Zine Fair in July 2023.</p>