The HOOPS Project was birthed in 2019 to help promote an upcoming exhibition in which Milwaukee-based Art Collective LUNA created works inspired by their own personal experiences centering hoop earrings. As a member, Nicole Acosta held an intimate photo session for LUNA, asking them to wear their hoop earrings and encouraging each to share stories prompted by the question “What do hoop earrings mean to you?” By sharing these images and collecting stories, Nicole realized: the act of adorning one’s ears with hoops is a personal choice, a statement- deeply rooted in history, memory, and reclamation. The HOOPS Project has since evolved from a portrait project to a stage play which has impacted the lives of many. Nicole’s current focus is the first HOOPS coffee table book.
The HOOPS Project features portraits and personal stories of over 100 individuals from Milwaukee, Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles who have deep connections to hoop earrings. This project documents and archives the voices of Black, Brown, Indigenous, Asian, and other individuals of the global majority. They are teachers, artists, doulas, creators, healers, healthcare workers, musicians, poets, advocates, mothers, DJs, hair stylists, dancers, service industry people, top executives, and much more. This project holds space, it’s an offering, and the stories shared are medicine to anyone who can relate.
“The study of existence emerges through images, film, and story found in the HOOPS project. This body of work expresses themes like reclamation, power, belonging, and place. All of which inspire and advance conversations around erasure, decolonization, and representation. HOOPS also considers culture, language, memory, and ritual as a mode to go beyond traditional archives.”
Stills from the HOOPS play written by Eliana Pipes from the HOOPS Project. Thank you to the amazing actors: Celia Mandela Rivera as Aye, Paulina Lule as Bey, Ashley Oviedo as Cee. Photos by Michael Brosilow.
