11. Pillars at Governors Island
Inside the cafe at the Arts Center at Governors Island is the first U.S.-based installation of Pillars by Jamaican-born artist Simon Benjamin. At Governors Island, Benjamin’s work focuses on migration, labor, and forms of disembodied care between immigrants and their loved ones in their home country.
Pillars serves as a continuation of the interactive video Diorama, first seen at the 2017 Ghetto Biennale in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. To continue the storyline, Pillars investigates the dynamic people of the African diaspora have between viewing the sea as a site of historical trauma and labor but also as a source of cultural and spiritual significance. The installation will remain up for view through October 30, 2022.
