Repost from @followriversinstitute • These last days, we have felt the complex tension between the suffering in the Ukraine and the euphoria in New Orleans, as we have celebrated Mardi Gras after two long years. But it has also been impossible not to notice the coincident shapes of our people in procession, in formation. On our first night of parades, we walked home along a line of decorated floats that stretched for miles, periodically checking news and receiving images of cars in line to flee Kyiv. Our people have all taken to the streets. And in this, we recognize that the parade is most powerful as a form of resistance. Our processionals are expressions of refusal and solidarity. In ‘Yto Barrada: Ways to Baffle the Wind,’ a child’s blue cardboard cut-out costume, found in the debris following the Earth Day parade held in Brooklyn on September 20, 2019, hangs on the wall at MASS MoCA. On this Mardi Gras day, Rivers and our community will be parading—for peace, for the people of the Ukraine, for the people of Russia, for the people of Palestine, for the people of Afghanistan, for trans youth, for Black lives, for the health of our planet, for respect for human life and dignity everywhere, and for shared moments of joyful expression. Happy Mardi Gras! Images: (1) Mardi Gras celebrations in New Orleans, LA (2) Solidarity March for Ukraine in Berlin, Germany 2022 (3) Barrada, ‘After the Parade,’ 2019, child’s wave costume, 46 x 43 in @ytobarrada @massmoca @followriversinstitute @pacegallery @warholfoundation #mardigras2022 #standingwithukraine #ytobarrada #waystobafflethewind #massmoca #followriversinstitute #earthday #blacklivesmatter #protecttranschildren #freepalestine #freeafghanistan #solidarity #liberation #resistance #artistsagainstapartheid #peopleinprocession