June 8-August 8, 2026 - in collaboration with Cauleen Smith, Harrison Kinnane Smith and OXY ARTS,

The National Museum of the Aftermath positions the present as post-historical, asking: "In the wake of the uncountable endings our history contains, how do we build resistant relationships to the permanence of racism?" 

This summer, the Museum will periodically operate as a sound stage for the artist Cauleen Smith, who will film three scenes hovering between the real and speculative. Each stages the internal negotiations of collective struggle — the gatherings, disagreements, and nuances of people trying to build something together within and alongside what remains. The material traces and video documentation of these performances will provide the context for a series of public gatherings. These include a film series, reading group, and an open call to individuals and organizations motivated to confront the proposition that we are already living in an aftermath. In between these arranged gatherings, the sound stage will be open to the public for flexible, drop in use. Reading materials and furniture can be utilized and re-arranged based on who is visiting that day and where their work takes them. 

By converting the gallery into a stage, the Museum seeks to challenge the conventions of its form — rather than a space to be filled with artifacts and objects, it has become a place for research, performance, and shared thought. This is also an act of para-institutional nesting: OXY ARTS operating semi-independently within Occidental College; The National Museum hovering between speculative institution and artist project; and inside all of that, Cauleen Smith's National Museum of the Aftermath — an artist project within a fictional museum within an arts space within a college.

The open call for proposals, and schedule for the film screenings and reading group will be announced soon. Join the National Museum mailing list to receive updates. 

National Museum of the Aftermath is co-curated by Harrison Kinnane Smith and Jon Rubin