maintenance manifesto: mending the space

maintenance manifesto: mending the Space

Behind VA Shadows | December 2026 – January 2027
Curated by Yolanda He Yang

maintenance manifesto: mending the Space brings together nine artists, Shelby, Eben, Adric, Nami, Cameron, Miguel, Rachel, Maia, and Will, who have each contributed to maintaining and mending the Behind VA Shadows exhibition space throughout 2026. Their contributions have taken different forms, including building and organizing storage, installing vinyl, painting walls, patching holes, and attending to the many small, often invisible tasks that keep an artist-run space functioning.

Led by Yolanda He Yang, the exhibition recognizes these acts of maintenance as part of the artists' shared relationship with the space, rather than labor separate from their creative practices.

The exhibition unfolds through a sequential, artist-led installation process. Beginning with an empty gallery, each artist enters one at a time, responding to the works installed before them. Through decisions about proximity, distance, tension, and placement, the exhibition gradually takes shape. Each artist leaves a written note reflecting on their choices, creating a collective record of how the space is negotiated.

Mending the Space considers maintenance not simply as repair, but as an ongoing practice of attention, care, and shared responsibility. The artists who have physically sustained the space throughout the year now collectively determine how it will be occupied.