Counter Surveillance

The Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans (PANA) and The AjA Project collaborated in launching the final phase of the 3-year Counter Surveillance program. This youth fellowship is a rapid-response art production program to create a campaign against San Diego Police Department’s proposed “Smart Street Lights Ordinance”.

In the summer, 12 youth fellows worked with established artists Daniel Ruanova and Mely Barragan to create textile-based visual aids and props that were taken to City Hall. At City Hall, fellows presented a powerful testimony of how surveillance has been affecting the primarily refugee and Black community of City Heights. 

Continuing from the summer, 4 youth fellows were selected to collaborate in a large-scale exhibition piece with The AjA Project. Fellows spray-painted surveillance terminology onto a 8x10 inflatable camera. Inside, fellows engaged with community members to discuss the harmful consequences of surveillance technology in San Diego.