April 22 – May 12, 2019
The Carrack Modern Art
Durham, NC

 

One Acre Exchange is an exhibit exploring the nature of labor, making, and interconnectedness in the nascent regional industrial hemp fiber industry. The exhibit will take place at The Carrack Modern Art in downtown Durham, North Carolina April 22 through May 12, 2019.

The exhibit will involve an installation of machines and equipment used for each major stage of hemp fiber production: growing, processing, softening, and weaving. In between the machines we will display artworks by several regional artists created by local artists from hemp fiber grown in Durham County last year.

Together, these pieces seek to represent the possibilities of a local, small-scale industry—a phenomenon that is both new (in contrast to contemporary global industry) and old (in that small-scale hemp industry was part of the earliest European settlements in North Carolina). We invite the viewer to consider making as not just the activity of an artist or artisan but rather a complex chain of production that requires the labor and knowledge of multiple individuals. One Acre Exchange is an homage to this labor and interconnectedness.

One Acre Exchange is curated by Katie Berman, Tyler Jenkins, and Courtney Lockemer. Katie is an artist and fiber arts teacher in the local community who is passionate about pursuing responsibly-made textiles and practices. Tyler works in hemp growing and processing and is working to build a small-scale hemp industry in North Carolina. Courtney is an artist and designer with an independent line of clothing made from sustainable materials.