The Condition of Being Near invites ten artists into dialogues around ideas of proximity, particularly highlighting Afro-Asian political, cultural, and economic relations. Such connections are presented as the starting point for building supportive and pragmatic—and often complicated—solidarities. 

In local community relationships, these Afro-Asian proximities emerge in many ways. The Chinese takeout restaurant in a majority Black neighborhood is one salient example of how people may form coalitions in response to racial segregation and urban gentrification. Across Atlantic and Pacific regions, political activists and critical thinkers shared ideas of social liberation to develop an allied Global South. This includes the 1955 Asian-African Conference in Bandung, Indonesia, and the well-documented relationship between members of the Black Panther Party and Chinese Communist Party leaders in the early 1970s. Such local and transregional networks have inspired, and are shown through, artistic, music, and archival materials in this exhibition.