Project for Empty Space is delighted to present When Civilizations Heal, a solo exhibition by Helina Metaferia at the PES 800 Broad Street location from May 6, 2025, through August 17, 2025. An opening reception was held on Saturday, May 17th, in conjunction with the opening of Andrea Chung's The Ocean Doesn’t Recognize Tears.

When Civilizations Heal is an interdisciplinary project that imagines the exhibition space as an anthropological site, creating artifacts as art objects, assembled from archives of the last sixty years of activism, with an emphasis on the role that women-identifying people of color have played. Working across a diverse range of mediums, the artist brings together collage, sculpture, printmaking, video performances, and installation as methods for visually articulating the power of organizing as a political, communal, and artistic act. The exhibition also features a work-in-progress preview of a new short documentary film adaptation based on Metaferia’s practice. Throughout the exhibition, various community programs and local archival research will contribute to a multi-site public artwork that will be revealed at the end of the exhibition, in partnership with the City of Newark’s Division of Arts and Cultural Affairs.

Helina Metaferia comments, “It’s been a joy to work with Project for Empty Space (PES) powerhouse founders Jasmine Wahi and Rebecca Jampol, and the whole PES team, to develop this project. I feel fortunate to have my work situated in an artistic community whose values and mission are aligned with those of my art practice, which centers socially impactful work in service of justice and equity.”

Visitors can view the exhibit at Project for Empty Space at 800 Broad Street, Newark, NJ 07102.