At a moment of political upheaval and criminalized dissent in the US and reverberating abroad, the Vera List Center for Art and Politics joins the nationwide Fall of Freedom protest on November 21, 2025, in an urgent call to the arts community to unite in defiance of authoritarian forces sweeping the nation. Alongside artists, curators, writers, culture workers, and organizers, we convene on Friday, November 21, from 9 am to 9 pm EST for a 12-hour marathon reading of the VLC’s anthology Studies into Darkness: The Perils and Promise of Freedom of Speech (co-published with Amherst College Press). 

Originally published in 2022, Studies into Darkness explores freedom of speech through the lenses of history, poetics, and social justice, bringing together the writings and ideas of dozens of contributing artists, activists, curators, and writers. Three years after its publication, its central questions—of who has the right to free expression and when—have only become more urgent and timely.

For Fall of Freedom, this program gathers the book’s international contributors alongside other culture makers whose works and practices intersect with key themes of free speech, legibility, and (mis)translation. Structured as a 12-hour program spanning multiple time zones and connecting disparate locales, the marathon features essays, poetry, songs, scores, and letters, forming an open classroom with multiple entry points to the historical and contemporary discourse on free speech politics.

Participants include the book’s co-editors Carin Kuoni and Laura Raicovich, VLC’s Re’al Christian and Eriola Pira, and contributors Zach Blas, Aruna D’Souza, SHAWNÉ MICHAELAIN HOLLOWAY, Prithi Kanakamedala, Amar Kanwar, Silvia Federici, Svetlana Mintcheva, Obden Mondésir, Mendi + Keith Obadike, Vanessa Place, Michael Rakowitz, Kameelah Janan Rasheed, Nabiha Syed, and Jeanne van Heeswijk. See the full lineup below.

Studies into Darkness: A Reading Marathon for Freedom of Speech is co-organized by Carin Kuoni and Re’al Christian.

9–9:30 am
Introduction
Carin Kuoni and Laura Raicovich

9:30–9:55 am
Such a Morning, Letters 1–7
Amar Kanwar

10 am–12 pm | Arrival and Context

10–10:05 am
Introduction
Re’al Christian

10:05–10:30 am
Brief Reflection on Free Speech in the US and Introduction to Free Speech Timeline
Svetlana Mintcheva

10:30–11 am
A History of Free Speech in the United States (adapted)
Foundation for Individual Rights in Education
Duet reading by Katie Giritlian and kimi malka hanauer

11–11:05 am
Introduction
Eriola Pira

11:05–11:30 am
Dangerous to Whom? The Uneven Evolution of Free Speech Culture
Nabiah Syed

11:30 am–12 pm
Antifa and Free Speech on Campus by Mark Bray
Read by Lee Rowland, National Coalition Against Censorship

12–3:30 pm | Anticipation

12–12:05 pm
Introduction
Re’al Christian

12:05–12:15 pm
The Politics of the Commons: Manifestos in Action
Silvia Federici

12:15–12:30 pm
Agnes Denes, A Manifesto, 1969 &
The Campaign for Wages for Housework, 1974
Read by Sruti Suryanarayanan, Art.coop

12:30–12:45 pm
The Combahee River Collective Statement, 1977

12:45–1 pm
W.A.G.E., Womanifesto, 2008
Read by Nandini Sharma

1–1:15 pm
Laboria Cuboniks, Xenofeminism: A Politics for Alienation, 2015
Read by Shannon Mattern

1:15–1:30 pm
Sisters Uncut, Feministo, 2014

1:30–1:45 pm
Zapatista Women’s Opening Address at the First International Gathering of Politics, Art, Sport, and Culture for Women in Struggle, 2018
Read by Libertad Guerra, The Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural & Education Center

2–2:05 pm
Introduction
Eriola Pira

2:05–2:30 pm
OF THE WEB AS HOMEFRONT (IN REGARDS TO FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND FREEDOM(S) IN GENERAL)
SHAWNÉ MICHAELAIN HOLLOWAY

2:30–2:55 pm
Queer Darkness ↳ 1
Zach Blas

3–3:05 pm
Introduction
Carin Kuoni

3:05–3:30 pm
Becoming Collective at the End of Time
Jeanne van Heeswijk

3:30–5:30 pm | Order and Disintegration

3:30–3:35 pm
Introduction
Re’al Christian

3:35–3:55 pm
A Time for Seditious Speech
Prithi Kanakamedala and Obden Mondésir

4:05–4:30 pm
Sade Avec Spinoza
Vanessa Place

4:30–4:55 pm
Against Empathy, or the Value of Mistranslation
Aruna D’Souza

5–5:05 pm
Introduction
Carin Kuoni

5:05–5:30 pm
To Grasp Form/Rubbing of Sentences
Kameelah Janan Rasheed

5:30–9 pm | Silence and Transformation

5:30–5:35 pm
Introduction
Re’al Christian

5:35–5:55 pm
Language Warp (excerpt) by Natalie Diaz
Read by Larissa Nez

6:05–6:45 pm
I’m good at love, I’m good at hate, it’s in between I freeze
Michael Rakowitz

7:00–7:45 pm
Against the Light by Lyndon, Debora, and Abou
Read by Maya McGlynn and Ross Myren, Scatter Practice 

8–8:05 pm
Introduction
Carin Kuoni

8:05–8:45 pm
In the Mouth of This Dragon
Mendi + Keith Obadike

8:45–9 pm
Closing remarks
Carin Kuoni and Re’al Christian

About Fall of Freedom
Fall of Freedom is an urgent call to the arts community to unite in defiance of authoritarian forces sweeping the nation. Our Democracy is under attack. Threats to free expression are rising. Dissent is being criminalized. Institutions and media have been recast as mouthpieces of propaganda. This Fall, we are activating a nationwide wave of creative resistance. Beginning November 21–22, 2025, galleries, museums, libraries, comedy clubs, theaters, and concert halls across the country will host exhibitions, performances, and public events that channel the urgency of this moment. Fall of Freedom is an open invitation to artists, creators, and communities to take part—and to celebrate the experiences, cultures, and identities that shape the fabric of our nation.

About Studies into Darkness
There have been few times in American history when the very concept of freedom of speech—its promise and its contradictions—has been under greater scrutiny. Studies into Darkness: The Perils and Promise of Freedom of Speech provides a practical and historical guide to free speech discourse and combines it with poetic responses to contemporary crises around free expression. Ultimately, this publication provocatively questions whether genuine communication is ever attainable.

Studies into Darkness emerged from a series of seminars guided by acclaimed artist, filmmaker, and activist Amar Kanwar at the Vera List Center for Art and Politics at The New School. This collection of newly commissioned texts, artist projects, and historic resources examines aspects of freedom of speech informed by recent debates around hate speech, censorship, sexism, and racism. “Darkness” here holds the promise of complexity, discovery and, in Kanwar’s words, “visions from within the depths.” Designed by Nontsikelelo Mutiti and Julia Novitch, the book itself plays with the concept of darkness as both a tonal variation and a factor of legibility, a space from which truth can be extracted or hindered.