Annie Lennox ‘Now I Let You Go…’ MASS MoCA Exhibition Announced

Across and within a massive earthen mound wending through two galleries, renowned performer and social activist Annie Lennox will create a site-specific installation comprised of hundreds of artifacts culled from her personal collection of memorabilia, found objects, and personal effects amassed throughout her lifetime. Annie Lennox: ‘Now I Let You Go…’ will be on view beginning Saturday, May 25. The exhibition will open with a reception from 5:30-7:00pm, preceded by a special charity event at 4:00pm to benefit The Annie Lennox Foundation’s philanthropic work, and MASS MoCA’s Fund for New Music, in support of emerging and mid-career musicians. Tickets for the special benefit, “An Afternoon of Conversation and Song with Annie Lennox” are on sale at www.massmoca.org/annie-lennox

Writing about the exhibition, ‘Now I Let You Go…’ Lennox explains,

We interact with an infinity of objects from birth to the grave.

Over time our ‘belongings’ become more steeped and resonant with memory and nostalgia.

In many ways, personal objects express aspects of who we are – our identity: our values: our statements and choices.
The passages of time through which we exist become defined by the objects with which we interact.

The artefacts contained within the earthen mound — partially buried – partially excavated – have all played a part in my life.

I have had a special connection to each item presented – a connection that has been hard to relinquish. In time, we will all disappear from this earth.
This is our destiny.

What will we leave behind? Who will remember us – and for how long?

The mound is a glorious metaphor for the ultimate conclusion of all material manifestations.

We cling – consciously or unconsciously to ‘things’ that are endowed with emotional significance – keeping memories alive, while the uncomfortable awareness of the inevitable moment of departure is held at bay.

“Annie’s ferocious talent as a songwriter, her dynamic stage presence, and her passionate call to social activism makes her work cut an exceptionally wide swathe across global culture. We know and admire Annie Lennox’s work in the public sphere, and there will be sections of this show in which that iconic persona reverberates — sometimes metaphorically, sometimes sonically, sometimes stylistically, and sometimes with just trace of irony. But juxtaposed against her public face, as we examine this excavation of remarkably personal objects, we will come to better understand some of the underlying and more private forces that motivate her work in song, and her passionately-argued campaigns for justice, global health, and social equity across gender and race,” notes MASS MoCA Director Joseph Thompson.

The exhibition — part material diary, part art installation, and utterly human — is accompanied by a printed “field guide” in which Lennox annotates many of the objects on display, identifying the objects and adding recollections, personal stories, and provenance.

Performance

In connection with the exhibition, Lennox will discuss her work, and perform songs in a performance at MASS MoCA, with proceeds to benefit The Annie Lennox Foundation and MASS MoCA’s Fund for New Music.

For information about tickets to the benefit performance, An Afternoon of Conversation and Songs with Annie Lennox on May 25, visit massmoca.org/annie-lennox. Tickets are on sale Wednesday, February 20.