Expression Against Oppression Exhibition
Portland Oregon
2021
Save Art Space

SaveArtSpace has partnered with Expression Against Oppression and Salomée Souag to bring more public art to Portland through the installation of 8 billboards designed by BIPOC artists all over the world. 





Expression Against Oppression in Collboration with Save Art Space

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SaveArtSpace has partnered with Expression Against Oppression to bring more public art to Portland, OR!

Expression Against Oppression is a space for Black, brown, indigenous people and all oppressed people to take up space in Portland, the whitest city in America. It is a space for BIPOC creatives to have the tools to the creative and be connected to projects happening around social justice. Our mission is to elevate Black and POC creatives to see the power in their work and art and to build a community that fights for justice and equality. We must create and design safe playground spaces in marginalized communities and elevate black and brown creatives all over the world.

The SaveArtSpace x Expression Against Oppression selected artists are Dread Scott, Paola De La Cruz, Liam Woods, Kari Rowe, Tomás Karmelo Amaya, Christine Miller, Loren Toney, and HezronH.

Curated by Salomée Souag, founder of Expression Against Oppression, Bernadette Little, and Xiuhtezcatl.



During the week of September 6, 2021, SaveArtSpace will launch public art installations for each selected work on billboard ad spaces in Portland, OR. The public art will be on view for at least one month.

Founded in 2015, SaveArtSpace is a non-profit organization that works to create an urban gallery experience, launching exhibitions that address intersectional themes and foster a progressive message of social change. By placing culture over commercialism, SaveArtSpace aims to empower artists from all walks of life and inspire a new generation of young creatives and activists.



Statement from Salomée  

We’ve been told to stay silent,
To blend in,
To sit down and listen,
To not take up too much space,
Play a role.


Our time is now,

Time to be loud,

Bold,
Unapologetic about taking up space.
We are here to reclaim what’s ours.
This city needs us more than ever before.
Our voice, our vision has power.
It holds the power of a thousand ancestors and warriors.


This is art for the revolution, art for change. It brings power to the people. Power to the creatives, power to the youth.

It is more than a billboard or a mural, each space is a deep story, a struggle, a history, a celebration, a fight.

This is our fight for justice, for equality, for black and brown liberation.

We have to make write and draw our own narrative.

Growing up, we didn’t see ourselves as the people who inspired us.
We have to be the inspiration, the pioneers, and the creators.


Change culture.

This is an expression against oppression.

We have so many more stories to tell,

We are the future.