On Friday, January 12, LACMA will host a very special program  with artist Carolina Caycedo for a participatory book launch of the Serpent River Book. A 72-page accordion-fold artist book, Serpent River Book combines archival images, maps, poems, lyrics, and satellite photos with Carolina’s own images and texts on river biocultural diversity. This publication is part of the artist’s multi-year project BE DAMMED, in which she explores the power dynamics associated with the corporatization and decimation of water resources. On view in A Universal History of Infamy in BCAM, Serpent River Book gathers visual and written materials Carolina compiled while working in Colombian, Brazilian, and American communities affected by the privatization and industrialization of river systems. A related video, To Stop Being a Threat and Become a Promise, also on view in the galleries, she juxtaposes natural and industrial imagery to illustrate the effects of river-damming projects.

Learn more about Serpent River Book and join Carolina as she views and discusses a selection of artist books from the collections of LACMA and UCLA this Friday afternoon.

A Universal History of Infamy is on view in BCAM through February 19.