Earlier this week, Air 11, a bookstore and performance space devoted to the work of women and people of color, opened its doors in midtown Los Angeles on Fairfax Avenue. Co-founded by Oakland native/current downtown LA resident Lauryn Pendergrass and LA native Peter Woods, who’s been at the forefront of the LA arts and music scene with his outfit Quality Collective for over a decade now, and Writ Large Press for the last few years, the spot will host readings and music performances. It will also feature rotating residencies by small, independent presses, and conduct literary workshops. It’s currently hosting Alpha, a show of visual art by almost two dozen artists. That show will be up for two months. On June 20th, Liz Kay reads and discusses her new novel Monsters: A Love Story. Ashaki Jackson and Jen Hofer will be guest readers, and Cave Canem Fellow F. Douglas Brown hosts. The event starts at 7:30 PM and is free.
After the opening party (all photos in this article are from that event), Pendergrass and Woods answered a few questions for Crave.
What does the name Air 11 mean or signify?
Peter Woods: Air 11 is a nod to the Aquarian Book Shop, one of the nation’s oldest Black owned bookstores that opened in south Los Angeles in 1941 and became a hub of cultural activity – lectures, classes in Black history, small theatrical productions. Aquarian is an air sign and it’s the eleventh sign of the zodiac.
Lauryn Pendergrass: Also, Aquarian Books, which was located in South Central, closed in 1994, so we want to honor its legacy.
Peter Woods and Lauryn Pendergrass. Photo by Emi Motokawa.
Do you have a mission statement, or stated vision for the place?
PW: We’re a cultural experiment, an autonomous space that will exhibit and support culture created by women and people of color. We want to be part of this cultural moment where artists from historically marginalized, disenfranchised communities are examining the world through their own innovative artistic lenses.
What do you think of the conversation around “diversity” taking place in Hollywood, the literary world, the art world right now?
PW: They’re all giving lip service to diversity right now because it’s a badge of coolness or enlightenment or whatever. We aren’t interested in diversity. We want full inclusion and participation, or else we should burn it all down. Not literally. [He laughs.]
LP: The conversation has always been part of the dialogue within minority communities. It’s important that what underserved communities have to say go beyond rumblings in our own communities, and that mainstream media is now taking notice as well. Air 11 hopes to further give a platform to those who were once silenced or caricatured, or what have you.
Reader browsing the bookshelves at Air 11. Photo by Chiwan Choi.
It’s great that you’re creating a place for women/POC, but how you feel about the way the term “POC” is often used to override or ignore the specificity of Black experiences and voices? I’m especially interested given that LA’s Black population, due to economics, gentrification, and a growing Latino population, is shrinking.
LP: Gentrification is inevitable now in many communities. You see it in places like Brooklyn. Spike Lee has talked about what it does to silence and push out the people who created these beautiful and rich communities in the first place. That makes spaces like Air 11 that much more important. It allows the black experience to be told in a world that still says our lives and experiences aren’t important. It highlights the female experience because women are still working hard just to be on an equal playing field with men. While “POC” encompasses many cultures and communities, the gallery is black owned so we’ll work especially hard to highlight African and African American stories.
Why did you choose the location you did? Why not, say, Leimert Park or Boyle Heights, areas that are admittedly gentrifying quickly but are historically black and brown communities?
LP: The location is sort of a cultural and generational crossroads. I see it as an area where Hollywood, Downtown, South LA, and West LA all can come together. Boyle Heights and Leimert Park and neighborhoods like that are places where pretty specific cultures reside. It’s important to bring the stories and art out of those areas and into places where people who may never travel into those neighborhoods can see what’s going on. It’s important for the people who do live in those areas and the people who don’t. Bridging gaps is definitely part of our goal. Part of the joy of living in LA is being able to experience so many different cultures, and I think the Fairfax District is a great junction to tie it all together.
PW: We’re more interested in what is birthed from creative safe spaces than where they’re physically located.
Photo by Emi Motokawa.
In what ways does the current political climate (the Trump campaign; the non-stop brutalization/assassination of Black bodies; the intense anti-immigrant sentiment being exploited by the political right; the intensity of Islamophobia) affect your vision or agenda for Air 11?
LP: Air 11 is a place for people to voice and show how they feel about the political climate, about social justice, and the effects it all has on everyone, with each artist using their own medium to foster dialogue. Our goal is never to offend anyone, but we do hope to start dialogues, to help people maybe think a bit differently about some things by showing different angles of the issues. We don’t intend to steer away from controversy.
How can the conversations about diversity and cultural exchange be deepened and manifest change that really affects the center, who actually has and wields power, as opposed to cosmetic changes that maintain the status quo while giving the illusion of real progress or change?
PW: Those are exactly the kinds of questions Air 11 plans to tackle through ongoing panels, discussions, exhibits, workshops, and social practice. We opened this space because we’re tired of waiting.
LP: The power of communication is one of our greatest gifts. In communication comes understanding and deeper knowledge about who we are as a global community. We want Air 11 to be a catalyst for change by giving voice to those who are often muffled and disregarded. We want to put them front and center stage.
Air 11
359 N. Fairfax Avenue (upstairs)
L.A. Ca 90036
(310) 994-3167
Regular store hours will be posted June 21st. Until then, they’re open by appointment and during scheduled events.
