What kind of society would we live in without policing? This season's Lowertown Reading Jam kicks off with a new performance, "A World Without End, Amen," created by artist Irna Landrum, centered around this fundamental question. Landrum will collaborate with Erin Sharkey, Maya Beck, Katie Robinson, and Stephanie Chrismon. These female artists are curious about the human condition and are working to unravel why we do what we do.
According to Saint Paul Almanac, the idea for "A World Without End, Amen," came to Irna Landrum in an image. She says, “I fell asleep one night and woke up in a world with no dress codes, official or unofficial, to abide by. Bodies of all shapes and sizes roamed freely without the (dis)approving gazes of passersby. Folks wandered the streets at all hours of the night, traveling from one place to the next unchaperoned and unafraid. There were no contracts and rules for romantic partnership. And there were no uniformed people given utmost, unquestioned authority over the rest of us. And life was challenging. Life was rewarding. Life and living didn’t end.”
Landrum asks us to join her and “four of the most fiendishly creative minds and passionate co-conspirators I know as we imagine for a night a post-police landscape through essays, poetry, and short fiction.”
"A World Without End, Amen," takes place Wednesday, October 26, at 7:30 p.m. at Black Dog Café. The performance is open to community members of all ages and is free of charge. Donations are welcome, and food and drink will be for sale. -Erika Voeller
