Hindsight 2020 (in progress)
2020-21
On the last day of 2019 I emailed artist friends across the globe with an invitation to participate in a collaborative writing project. Every 20 days each of 20 (or so) participants would write a "hindsight" – a reflection, a revelation, a banality, whatever it meant for them – to collectively create a personal record of a single year. As we all know, the year 2020 turned out to be and contain more than any of us could have imagined at the outset. The project was conceived with a structure, but without a planned outcome. As the year progressed, from wildfires near one participant’s home to a global pandemic, racial justice uprisings to the grief over family deaths, the personal texts entangled across a shared landscape.
Selections of the writing were shared publicly in a durational reading at Portland Playhouse and online audio broadcast on Saturday, August 28, 2021. Future presentations and publications TBD.
Writers (listed alphabetically)
Anonymous (USA)
Adrienne Wong (Banff, AB Canada)
Alexandra Spence (Sydney, New South Wales Australia)
Allison DeLauer (Fontecchio, L'Aquila Italy)
Amy Botula (Portland, OR USA)
Annie Therrian Boulos (Whitehorse, YK Canada)
Caroline Liffmann (Vancouver, BC Canada)
Damaris Webb (Portland, OR USA)
Jennifer Keyser (Portland, OR USA)
Julie Hammond (Portland, OR USA)
Larry Krone (New York, NY USA)
Linda Austin (Portland, OR USA)
Maiko Yamamoto (Vancouver, BC Canada)
Mark Cunningham (Burnaby, BC Canada)
Matthew Ariaratnam (Vancouver, BC Canada)
Megan Stewart (Charlottetown, PEI Canada)
Michelle Milne (Goshen, IN USA)
Pepper Pepper (Portland, OR USA)
rebecca bruton (Calgary, AB Canada)
Renee Sills (Portland, OR USA)
Robyn Jacob (Vancouver, BC Canada)
August 2021 Workshop Team:
Performers
Ashley Song Mellinger
Erin Leddy
Heath Hyun Houghton
Jen Mitas
Michael Cavazos
Nikki Weaver
Paul Susi
Julie Hammond - Director
Maesie Speer - Dramaturg
ashley hollingshead - Production Assistant
David Chandler - Sound Engineer
The August 2021 workshop was supported in part by the Regional Arts & Culture Council. Special thanks to Portland Playhouse and Branic Howard.