The waiting room requires patience. It requires accepting circumstances and conditions beyond our control. It requires sitting, observing, reflecting, anticipating. Those moments, of eagerly awaiting the next step, are also when unexpected creativity might spark.
This exhibition asks to embrace the uncertainties of this moment, and proposes to dwell in the uneasiness of not knowing what will come next. As we collectively find ourselves confounded to a waiting room we did not ask to enter, this exhibition wonders how to re-envision a space for introspection, reflection and preparation for what life could look like on the other end, as we will make our way through the exit. In this waiting room, we can choose to seize the opportunity to re-define how do we share a space, re-create our communication, connections, our daily rituals and our engagement with the world.
We reached out across the AJU universe, asking participants, artists, audience members, educators and learners what is their waiting room, how does it look like, how are they experiencing it and what do they hope to find on the other side. The responses arrived in all forms and from all across the US.
The project continued to grow and accumulate further observations as isolation measures continued.