These Walking Glories is a solo exhibition by multidisciplinary artist Sage Ni’Ja Whitson that presents a portion of their Illumination Catalogue, an ambitious ceremony series and archive that grieves Black trans losses and celebrates Black trans living. Since 2022, Whitson has taken part in a pilot residency program at CAAM intended to support Black California artists with research-based practices. During their residency, in light of the epidemic of violence targeting transgender people throughout the country, Whitson has traveled to a selection of ninety sites across fourteen states where Black transgender people were murdered or committed suicide between 2018 and today. There, they have conducted and documented site-specific rituals in dialogue with local transgender communities. Through this work, the artist poetically asks, “how does the cosmos grieve us?” and “how were our exquisite births recorded in the sky?,” using ceremony and performance, oral history recording, and a collective action protocol that records the moon cycle and special astronomical events occurring on the date of a person’s birth and death. The exhibition at CAAM incorporates ritual materials, including essences made by the artist in honor of each transcestor, photographs, and sound archives accumulated through their travels, as well as a series of performance events. Sage Ni’Ja Whitson: These Walking Glories is curated by Cameron Shaw, Executive Director and Chief Curator. The residency and exhibition were made possible with generous support from the Mellon Foundation. Additional support for the exhibition was provided by the University of California, Riverside. Please note: Exhibition hours for opening week will be limited to allow for twice daily performances. Regular gallery hours resume on Tuesday, November 25. Sign up for a performance to be the first to see it!