For LACE’s eleventh Emerging Curator presentation, Semaj Peltier and pom*pom curate No Loneliness Like This, a film and food event showcasing experimental films that traverse the many manifestations of state-sanctioned isolation. Here, cinema becomes a vessel for reckoning with the solitude shaped by the slow violences of colonialism and capitalism. Through the rituals of watching and eating, they reflect on and transmute these lived isolations, examine the structures that uphold them, and imagine resistance: fantasies of collective action against the state, of connection as life source, of solidarity through struggle.
With the 2026 open call, LACE requested proposals specifically centered on moving image works that can be presented as a single program, or programming series, rather than an exhibition. Semaj Peltier and pom*pom’s proposal was selected from a large pool of applicants by a panel of artists and arts professionals. This year’s panelists included Jheanelle Brown, faculty member at CalArts and Curator of Film at REDCAT; Carrie Chen, artist, curator, and educator; and Heber Rodriguez, Coordinator for the City of Lancaster’s Parks, Recreation and Arts Department in the Arts and Museums Division.
“As last year’s Emerging Curator at LACE, I know firsthand how meaningful this program is in supporting early-career curators through mentorship and the realization of timely, ambitious projects. I’m excited to see how Semaj Peltier and pom*pom’s compelling project will open up new conversations and build on LACE’s spirit of experimental programming and community engagement,” says Carrie Chen.
“LACE’s Emerging Curator Program has proven to be an amazing pipeline for emerging curatorial talent from Los Angeles. By providing creatives early in their career a platform, mentorship, and the necessary support to produce exciting curatorial projects, this program provides a rare, but much needed opportunity to introduce new voices to the cultural landscape of the city. The collaborative project proposed by Semaj Peltier and pom*pom sounds like a timely and necessary program that uses film to gather community and combat isolation. I look forward to seeing them realize this ambitious proposal through the LACE Emerging Curator Program,” says Heber Rodriguez.
Semaj Peltier and pom*pom are collaborators in a curatorial collective and experimental film archive organizing community-based events since 2022. Peltier, a projectionist, archivist and filmmaker, brings a praxis shaped by her studies at the University of Amsterdam’s Preservation and Presentation of the Moving Image Masters program, specializing in ephemeral histories shaped by coloniality and otherness. pom*pom, developed by Russell Hartling and Crystal Dawana, is an experimental food collective whose sensory-driven dining experiences intersect with film programming to evoke memory, storytelling, and connection. Together, they build worlds where film and food become tools of resistance—rituals that evoke memory, incite dialogue, and nurture solidarity through shared sensation and subversion.
“No Loneliness Like This is a space where socially-committed cinema and collective communion converge. We want to highlight the exacerbating threats to our collective liberation enacted by our government and imperial systems of power globally,” says Semaj Peltier and pom*pom.
ABOUT THE EMERGING CURATOR PROGRAM
The Emerging Curator Program is designed to discover curatorial talent in Los Angeles and provides opportunities for emerging curators to partner with LACE. Applicants are reviewed by a panel that recommends a compelling project to the LACE team consistent with LACE’s experimental spirit. Learn more about all past ten Emerging Curator projects, including the 2025 presentation This Home, Forever, curated by Nahui Garcia.
ABOUT LACE
LACE (Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions) champions artists, curators, and cultural workers who explore and defy boundaries through socially-engaged projects. We provide platforms within and beyond our space for diverse communities to connect deeply with challenging contemporary art. Uniquely positioned in the heart of Hollywood, LACE amplifies the voices and visions of Los Angeles’ diverse makers. LACE presents free, significant, and timely exhibitions, performances, and public projects, complemented by education initiatives. www.welcometolace.org
