#bkmprograms

[brooklynmuseum]

I've been a woman with my legs stretched by the wind rushing the day thinking i heard your voice while it was only the nite moving over making room for the dawn.

—“Poem No. 8” from I’ve Been A Woman, 1978

Soft words and lyrical confession make up Poem No. 8, a poem by the acclaimed author and activist Dr. Sonia Sanchez. Her vast body of work urgently grapples with black womanhood, ancestry, life, and love. 

Please join us on Thursday, February 22nd with the National Coalition of 100 Black Women as we honor Dr. Sanchez for her literary and cultural contributions, featuring live readings and discussions with the poet herself.

Posted by Simon Wu

[brooklynmuseum]

Behind the spectacle of its record-breaking auction sale and the boldness of its singular presentation in our current exhibition One Basquiat, Untitled (1982) is a deeply introspective painting. Its suspended skull and brilliant blue color belie a surface of doodles and scrawls, like the simple face of an intricate clock. The painting presents a level of intrigue worthy of its legendary creator, Jean-Michel Basquiat, who, despite an untimely death, continues to be an unshakeable influence to artists, designers and creators today.

On Thursday, February 15, we invite contemporary artists and collaborators to reflect on this inimitable figure. Participants include Cey Adams, graffiti artist and former creative director of Def Jam, artist and actor Lee Quiñones, and photographer Maripol. Get your tickets while they last.

Posted by Simon Wu Lee Jaffe (American born 1950), Jean-Michel Basquiat, 1984. Black and white photograph. © Lee Jaffe. Courtesy of the artist. By permission of the Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat, Licensed by Artestar, New York

[brooklynmuseum]

We are thrilled to announce that late Thursday hours at the Brooklyn Museum are now FREE thanks to the generous support of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation. Starting tonight, visitors can enjoy free Museum admission between 6–10pm, as well as select community programs like Salsa Party and Art History Happy Hour. See you later!

[brooklynmuseum]

‘Tis that time of year again! Our popular Salsa Party is back for a new season in partnership with the legendary Balmir Latin Dance Company. So you think you can’t dance? That’s not an excuse! Our parties are open to all levels and begin with a lesson led by Balmir’s professional instructors so that you can pull up to that social dancing hour with all the swag and flow you need.

We’re kicking off 2018 with the first Salsa Party of the year, on Thursday, January 11 at 6pm in the Glass Pavilion. As always the evening is free and includes special live music and dance performances by Brooklyn’s best latin dance teams. Nos vemos ahí!

Posted by Camila Cury

[brooklynmuseum]

Whenever I bring a school group to the Rotunda on the 5th floor, they are mesmerized by the Sergei Eisenstein video installation on view in  Proof: Francisco Goya, Sergei Eisenstein, Robert Longo. It is an immersive space that engages sight and mind as you try to piece together the silent slow moving images that surround you. On December 9 at 7pm, we will be broadening this sensory experience with a special music performance composed and performed by Rhys Chatham and an ensemble of musicians, including Robert Longo, who’s featured in Proof alongside Sergei Eisenstein.

They will be performing Rhys’ Guitar Trio, composed in 1977 and one of his longstanding influential pieces. This promises to be an one-of-a-kind experience, and you should definitely not miss it. Spots are limited so get your tickets today!

Posted by Camila Cury

[brooklynmuseum]

"Slavery didn't end in 1865. It evolved." —Bryan Stevenson, founder and Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI). 

Only two more weeks to see EJI's groundbreaking research into the history of lynching alongside artworks and archival material from the @brooklynmuseum collection. Explore The Legacy of Lynching: Confronting Racial Terror in America, now through October 8th, and be sure to catch our upcoming Brooklyn Talks with leading scholars Paul Butler and Michelle Alexander on October 5. Tickets are available here.

[brooklynmuseum]

In this still from Ken Burns’s 1981 film Brooklyn Bridge, a dark, beautiful glow outlines the city and the iconic Brooklyn Bridge. It is a fitting portrait for the Bridge’s legacy: today an American monument, 135 years ago a seemingly insurmountable endeavor. On Thursday, December 7th, the newly restored film returns to the Brooklyn Museum, where it originally premiered, for a screening and talkback with director Ken Burns and New York Times reporter Jim Dwyer.

Get your tickets today!

Posted by Simon Wu Photos: Film still from “Brooklyn Bridge (1981), Ken Burns, Florentine Films and portrait of director Ken Burns, by Daniel J. White.

[brooklynmuseum]

Fall is my favorite time of year. Fall brings comfort and an unusual rainbow spectrum of oranges, browns, and yellows. It brings back the nostalgia of racing my Mom to crunch the first dry leaf on the ground. The one major holiday that knows how to ring in the Fall with delight and excitement is Halloween. Get a fresh look at representations of animals with two unique tours. This one-of-a-kind experience begins with a tour of our special exhibition, Soulful Creatures: Animal Mummies in Ancient Egypt, which explores the ancient Egyptian process and purpose of animal mummification through a display of mummies of birds, cats, dogs, snakes, and other animals from cemeteries throughout Egypt. Then, we’ll hop on the trolley to Green-Wood Cemetery to compare these spiritual creatures to the wide variety of Victorian-era symbolic representations of animals, from birds and bees to lions and horses, in Green-Wood’s menagerie of monuments. There are three options to choose from, one that is a walking tour on Halloween itself (with open Mausoleums and nighttime fun).

October 21, 2017: 11:00 am – 2:00 pm

11 am Meet in the Rubin Lobby

11 am–12 pm Tour of Soulful Creatures

12:15 pm Meet in the Rubin Lobby, trolley ride to Green-Wood Cemetery

12:45–1:45 pm Trolley tour of Green-Wood Cemetery

1:45–2 pm Return to Museum

October 21, 2017: 3:00 – 6:00 pm

3 pm Meet in the Rubin Lobby

3–4 pm Tour of Soulful Creatures

4:15 pm Meet in the Rubin Lobby, trolley ride to Green-Wood Cemetery

4:45–5:45 pm Trolley tour of Green-Wood Cemetery

5:45–6 pm Return to Museum

October 31, 6:00 – 9:00 pm

6 pm Meet in the Rubin Lobby

6–7 pm Tour of Soulful Creatures

7:15 pm Meet in the Rubin Lobby, trolley ride to Green-Wood Cemetery

7:45–8:45 pm Walking tour of Green-Wood Cemetery

8:45–9 pm Return to Museum

Get your tickets today!

Posted by Laval Bryant

[brooklynmuseum]

This Hispanic Heritage Month we’re celebrating the resilience and power of the Latinx diaspora today at First Saturday and every day with our latest Spotify playlist brought to you by Brooklyn’s own DJ and leading producer of digital cumbia Geko Jones, who joins forces with performing artist La Chiquita Brujita tomorrow night to celebrate an international community of artists, DJs, and collectives producing the best tropical music from Brooklyn to Barranquilla. With sets by DJ Big Nito and Nitty Scott. 

Cover art: Miguel Luciano (American, born Puerto Rico 1972). Platano Pride, 2006. Chromogenic photograph, 40 x 30 in. (101.6 x 76.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the artist, 2008.15. © artist or artist's estate 

[brooklynmuseum]

In the late 1970s, Jean-Michel Basquait lived with Alexis Adler in the East Village. At this time he was still “writing” on and off the streets as SAMO©, beginning to earn himself recognition as a noteworthy artist. Be sure to see Life with Basquiat, an installation of Adler's intimate photographs of Brooklyn’s own Radiant Child—on view in the @caribbeing house, all month long @brooklynmuseum.

Alexis Adler. Basquiat in East 12th Street apartment, 1979-80. Photo courtesy of artist.

[brooklynmuseum]

This weekend, @fiafny's Crossing the Line Festival presents the New York premiere of Corbeaux (Crows), a new dance performance by Moroccan choreographer Bouchra Ouizguen. 

Corbeaux (Crows) is a hypnotic, site-specific living sculpture that interrupts and transforms public spaces. Dark silhouettes of women emerge from the shadows and silently fan out across the Beaux-Arts Court. Forming alchemical arrangements, they move again and again, erupting into an immersive chorus of piercing sounds and rhythmic cries, making all notions of time and space disappear. Performances will take place Saturday, Sep 30, from 12 and 4pm, and Sunday, Oct 1, at 3pm. Free with Museum admission.

Corbeaux (Crows) © Hasnae El Ouarga courtesy of Compagnie O. (Photo: Hasnae El Ouarga)

[brooklynmuseum]

As we approach the 50th anniversary of the West Indian American Day Parade, there are many questions circulating about how we can preserve cultural traditions while also prioritizing the safety of our communities, particularly when it comes to the safety of women.

Join us Thursday August, 17 for our film screening and conversation on consent, risk, and sexuality at J’Ouvert and other festivals. This conversation unpacks sexuality and consent in Caribbean festival culture and demystifies misconceptions around cultural traditions.

Schedule:

7 pm NYC premiere of Bottom in De Road (Oyetayo Raymond Ojoade, 2015, 50 min.), a documentary that investigates how women’s bodies act as sites of empowerment and objectification in Caribbean carnival culture

8 pm Panel discussion moderated by Shelley Worrell, founder of caribBEING. Panelists include recording artist Lyrikal; Pastor Monrose, Director of Faith-based and Clergy Initiatives at the Brooklyn Borough President’s Office; Nicole “Zyoness” Crowley, model, plus-size advocate, and community activist; and Rosamond S. King, Associate Professor of English at Brooklyn College and author of Island Bodies: Transgressive Sexualities in the Caribbean Imagination

9 pm Reception at the caribBEING House in the Biergarten (weather permitting)

Part of A Year of Yes: Reimagining Feminism at Brooklyn Museum.

Catherine Green (American, born 1952). Untitled, 1991. Chromogenic photograph, image: 11 x 16 in. (27.9 x 40.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Helen Babbott Sanders Fund, 1991.69.1. © artist or artist's estate

[brooklynmuseum]

Join us tomorrow to learn about the cultural significance, updated parade route, and public safety initiatives of J’Ouvert, the pre-dawn Caribbean street festival that occurs in the hours leading up to Brooklyn’s West Indian American Day Carnival. Panelists include Yvette Rennie, President of J'Ouvert City International; Council Member Jumaane D. Williams; and Shanduke McPhatter, CEO of G-MACC Inc. (Gangstas Making Astronomical Community Changes Inc.). The forum is followed by a Q&A with experts and includes a multimedia presentation. A reception follows at caribBEING House, located in our Biergarten (weather permitting).

This program is part of a month-long residency with Brooklyn-based arts organization @caribbeing and is presented in partnership with the Mayor's Office for Community Affairs. Free with Museum admission.

J’Ouvert in Brooklyn, photograph courtesy of Ruddy Roye.

[brooklynmuseum]

As part of We Wanted a Revolution: Black Radical Women, 1965–85, next week artist Maren Hassinger will restage her 1982 performance Pink Trash, which explores ideas of public space and ethical citizenship by drawing attention to the ways New Yorkers engage with their local environment. 

Originally performed in Central Park, Prospect Park, and Van Cortlandt Park, this unique and exciting restaging of Pink Trash takes place in Prospect Park. Join us at the Museum Sunday, July 23 at 1pm for a special tour and conversation with Hassinger and co-curator Rujeko Hockley before heading to the park for the 2:15 performance. 

Maren Hassinger. Performance of Pink Trash, 1982. Performance documentation courtesy of Horace Brockington

[brooklynmuseum]

All August long we’re centering the stories of our Caribbean neighbors in honor of the Golden Anniversary of the West Indian American Day Parade. We’re thrilled to announce a special preview screening of the anticipated new film Crown Heights on our upcoming Target First Saturday on August 5. When Trinidadian Crown Heights resident Colin Warner was wrongfully convicted of murder in 1982, his best friend Carl King devoted his life to proving Colin’s innocence. Winner of the Audience Award at Sundance, Crown Heights is the incredible true story of their harrowing quest for justice and will screen for the first time in the neighborhood the story is set. Followed by a Q&A with Colin Warner and other community stakeholders.

Tickets are free and first-come, first-served at 7pm so get here early!

Posted by Lauren A. Zelaya

[brooklynmuseum]

We’re excited to celebrate the upcoming Golden Anniversary of the West Indian American Day Parade with an entire month of programming dedicated to Caribbean communities in our neighborhoods! The month starts today with TARGET FIRST SATURDAY, presented in partnership with our friends at caribBEING. Rep your country at the flag fete featuring an all female lineup of artists in honor of our 10th anniversary of our Elizabeth A Sackler Center for Feminist Art. RSVP and peep the line-up here.

Then come back all month long for programming spotlighting the abundant contributions of Caribbean cultural producers in Brooklyn and NYC:

CARIBBEING HOUSE, August 5-27: Mobile art center caribBEING House is in residence all month long. Share your Caribbean heritage story with CUNY’s Dominican Studies Institute, learn about the history of J’Ouvert and see intimate photographs of Brooklyn’s own Jean-Michel Basquiat by Alexis Adler. Check the full schedule here. 

COCKTAILS AND CONVERSATION, August 3rd and 10th: Hear from Caribbean writers and poets, presented in partnership with PEN America. Snag your tickets here.

WHEN YES MEANS NO: A Roundtable on Consent in Carnival Culture, August 17: Unpack sexuality and consent in Caribbean festival culture with the US premiere of the short documentary Bottom in De Road (Oyetayo Raymond Ojoade, 2015) followed by a conversation moderated by Shelley Worrell, founder of caribBEING, with Lyrikal, Pastor Monrose, Rosamond King, and Nicole “Zyoness” Crowley. Get your tickets here.

MUSIC VIDEO NIGHT, August 24: Bronx-based hip-hop video director Eif Rivera pays a visit to Brooklyn to screen his work and discuss his Caribbean-centered practice. More info and tickets here.  

Save the dates and see you at the Museum!

Posted by Lauren A. Zelaya