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Places of Power is a social practice project culminating in an immersive VR documentary and geo-locative app of the Fairhill neighborhood that invites viewers to experience North Philadelphia anew as a tapestry of knowledge, healing, and civic leadership. The neighborhood has suffered decades of depopulation and disinvestment.
This project began as part of the SPACES Artist Residency at The Village of Arts and Humanities. Anula Shetty and Michael Kuetemeyer collaborated with long time residents Fred Harris and Q Tate to profile places of belonging and delve deep into the stories of the neighborhood. Two of the profilees, Nandi and Khalid Muhammed, have run a penny candy store out of their living room for over 15 years, and use candy as a vehicle to teach children counting, Black history, art, and communication skills. They are remarkable people who foster childhood magic and curiosity on an ordinary North Philly block. Mapping these nontraditional community access points is a key step to threading together the people and spaces that hold power in the neighborhood, but are often invisible. This project celebrates and connects these places, thereby multiplying their public safekeeping power.
