Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics

Mark your calendars! 2022-23 Mellon Fellow Juan Carlos Alom featured in show at the Thomas Nickles Project on the Lower East Side.

Opening on September 11

Opening on September 11, 2024 “How to Return to a Place that Isn’t There” is a collective show that delves into memory as a generative force. Featuring works by | | | |

Image details:
Juan Carlos Alom
How to Return to a Place that Isn’t There, 2024
Print on Chromaluxe HD Aluminium Panel White, Matt
13 x 13 in / 33 x 33 cm

On view now:
ABUNDANCE
Osmeivy Ortega
June 5 – August 23, 2024

Gallery Summer Hours:
July: Tuesday – Saturday 11–6 or by appointment
August: by appointment

Exorcizing Colonial Ghosts: Art as Healing - Rodrigo Severo in Conversation with Ayrson Heráclito

🗓️ Tuesday, June 25, 2024
🕒 5:00 PM EST

Visual artist, curator, and teacher Ayrson Heráclito sees art as a way to heal historical wounds. In this conversation, he will reflect on religiosity, history, Afro-Brazilian cultures, and their connections to Africa. He will also discuss the Black diasporas in the Americas as they appear in his artistic production, and will reflect on performance and the social and political meanings of corporeality.

This online event will be in Portuguese with simultaneous English interpretation.

To learn more and to register for the webinar, visit: https://bit.ly/4bCWPH4



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Exorcizar os fantasmas coloniais: Arte como uma forma de cura - Rodrigo Severo em Conversa com Ayrson Heráclito

🗓️ Terça-feira, 25 de junho de 2024
🕒 18:00, horário de São Paulo

Ayrson Heráclito, artista visual, curador e professor, percebe a arte como uma forma de curar as feridas históricas. Neste encontro, ele reflete sobre religiosidade, história, culturas afro-brasileiras e suas conexões entre a África e as diásporas negras nas Américas por meio de sua produção artística, evocando reflexões sobre a performance e o corpo dentro de seus contextos sociais e políticos.

Todos os eventos neste ciclo de conversas serão em português com tradução simultânea para o inglês.

Para saber mais sobre o evento e se cadastrar para o webinar, visite: https://bit.ly/3yzAGem

Afrodiasporic Poetics: Celebrating Black Arts - Rodrigo Severo in Conversation with Leda Maria Martins

🗓️ Tuesday, June 11, 2024
🕒 5:00 PM EST

Poet, essayist, playwright, and teacher Leda Maria Martins will reflect on the interrelationships between body, time, performance, and memory, addressing concepts she has developed such as “encruzilhada,” “oralitura,” “tempo espiralar,” and “corpo tela.” The discussion will address the context of the cultures and knowledge of African peoples and Afro-diasporic communities and their influence on the universe of contemporary performing arts.

This online event will be in Portuguese with simultaneous English interpretation.

To learn more and to register for the webinar, visit: bit.ly/3J6PxyP

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Poéticas afrodiaspóricas: Celebração das artes negras- Rodrigo Severo em Conversa com Leda Maria Martins

🗓️ Terça-feira, 11 de junho de 2024
🕒 18:00, horário de São Paulo

Leda Maria Martins, poeta, ensaísta, dramaturga e professora, reflete sobre as inter-relações entre corpo, tempo, performance e memória, abordando conceitos como Encruzilhada, Oralitura, Tempo Espiralar e Corpo tela no contexto das culturas e saberes dos povos africanos e das comunidades afrodiaspóricas, e sua influência no universo das artes cênicas contemporâneas.
Todas as conversas serão em português com tradução simultânea para o inglês.

Para saber mais sobre o evento e se cadastrar para o webinar, visite: bit.ly/3J6PxyP

ADIADO / POSTPONED

Devido a circunstâncias imprevistas, a conversa virtual de amanhã “Exorcizando fantasmas coloniais” com Ayrson Heráclito foi adiada. Uma nova data para o evento será anunciada em breve.
Para saber mais, visite a página do evento aqui: https://bit.ly/3yzAGem

Due to unforeseen circumstances, tomorrow's virtual conversation “Exorcizing Colonial Ghosts” with Ayrson Heráclito has been postponed. Please stay tuned for a new date and time.
To learn more, visit the event page here: https://bit.ly/4bCWPH4

TOMORROW / AMANHÃ ⬇️

Technologies of Protest: Political Artivism - Rodrigo Severo in conversation with Débora Maria da Silva

🗓️ Wednesday, May 8, 2024
🕒 5:00 PM EST

Brazilian human rights activist, founder of the Mothers of May Movement and researcher Débora Maria da Silva will reflect on the memories, experiences, and perspectives of mothers who have lost their sons and daughters to state violence in Latin America. The conversation will highlight the contributions of artistic-political actions within social movements that pressure the state and demand justice and social reparation.

This online event will be in Portuguese with simultaneous English interpretation.

To learn more and to register for the webinar, visit: rb.gy/2te0m1



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Tecnologias de protesto: Artivismo político - Rodrigo Severo em conversa com Débora Maria da Silva

🗓️ Quarta-feira, 8 de maio de 2024
🕒 18:00, horário de São Paulo

Débora Maria da Silva, ativista brasileira dos direitos humanos, fundadora do Movimento Mães de Maio e pesquisadora, reflete sobre as memórias, experiências e perspectivas das mães que perderam seus filhos e filhas devido à Violência de Estado na América Latina, destacando como as ações artístico-políticas dentro dos movimentos sociais têm contribuído na esfera pública para pressionar o Estado e reivindicar justiça e reparação social.

Todas as conversas serão em português com tradução simultânea para o inglês.

Para saber mais sobre o evento e se cadastrar para o webinar, visite: rb.gy/pidxt9

JOIN US TOMORROW!

THIS FRIDAY!
Sonido y baile – Performing Afterlives of Cuba, ca. 1956

🗓️ Friday, May 3, 2024
🕒 6 pm (EST)
📍 Center for Ballet and the Arts Studio, 16 Cooper Square

Join us for an evening of original creative works inspired by “Música de los cultos africanos en Cuba” (Music of the African Cults in Cuba), a remarkable audio archive of Afro-Cuban sacred music, recorded in the mid-1950s by Josefina Tarafa in collaboration with Cuban ethnographer Lydia Cabrera. Approaching the historical recordings (and the rich traditions they represent) in sound and movement, composer/percussionist Javier Diaz, singer/composer David Oquendo, dancer/choreographer Beatrice Capote, and Mellon Scholar in Residence David Font-Navarrete will offer intimate interpretations of the sounds, traditions, and people documented in Música de los cultos.

The “Música de los cultos” recordings are perhaps the single most robust multimedia archive of Afro-Cuban sacred music traditions in the mid-20th century. We invite you to join us as these distinguished artists present works inspired by this extraordinary collection.

This is an in-person event that requires registration. All non-NYU attendees must RSVP in advance. Video documentation will be made available on the Institute website following the event.

This event will be in Spanish and English.

RSVP here: bitly.cx/dwjB

More information, visit our website here: bitly.cx/Kao

TOMORROW!

Sonido y baile – Performing Afterlives of Cuba, ca. 1956

🗓️ Friday, May 3, 2024
🕒 6 pm (EST)
📍 Center for Ballet and the Arts Studio, 16 Cooper Square

Join us for an evening of original creative works inspired by “Música de los cultos africanos en Cuba” (Music of the African Cults in Cuba), a remarkable audio archive of Afro-Cuban sacred music, recorded in the mid-1950s by Josefina Tarafa in collaboration with Cuban ethnographer Lydia Cabrera. Approaching the historical recordings (and the rich traditions they represent) in sound and movement, composer/percussionist Javier Diaz, singer/composer David Oquendo, dancer/choreographer Beatrice Capote, and Mellon Scholar in Residence David Font-Navarrete will offer intimate interpretations of the sounds, traditions, and people documented in Música de los cultos.

The “Música de los cultos” recordings are perhaps the single most robust multimedia archive of Afro-Cuban sacred music traditions in the mid-20th century. We invite you to join us as these distinguished artists present works inspired by this extraordinary collection.

This is an in-person event that requires registration. All non-NYU attendees must RSVP in advance. Video documentation will be made available on the Institute website following the event.

This event will be in Spanish and English.

RSVP here: bitly.cx/dwjB

More information, visit our website here: bitly.cx/Kao

Becoming Immeasurable: Destroying the Machines that Produce the Fiction of Race - Rodrigo Severo in conversation with Castiel Vitorino Brasileiro

🗓️ Tuesday, April 30, 2024
🕒 5:00 PM EST

Artist, writer, and clinical psychologist Castiel Vitorino Brasileiro will talk about the intellectual and artistic interventions she has made in her career and how they relate to her concepts of Macumba Aesthetics and the Ephemerality Clinic. In her work, Brasileiro explores the fleeting possibilities of breaking with the violent racialization of Black existences in order to build transitory spaces of freedom.

This online event will be in Portuguese with simultaneous English interpretation.

To learn more and to register for the webinar, visit: rb.gy/6eeu48



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Torna-se Imensurável: Destruindo as máquinas que produzem a ficção da raça - Rodrigo Severo em conversa com Castiel Vitorino Brasileiro

🗓️ Terça-feira, 30 de abril de 2024
🕒 18:00, horário de São Paulo

Castiel Vitorino Brasileiro, artista plástica, escritora e psicóloga clínica, conversa sobre suas ideias, pensamentos e ações artísticas a partir de conceitos como Estéticas Macumbeiras e Clínica da Efemeridade, que exploram possibilidades efêmeras de rompimento com os violentos processos de racialização das existências negras, visando à construção de espaços fugazes de liberdade.

Todas as conversas serão em português com tradução simultânea para o inglês.

Para saber mais sobre o evento e se cadastrar para o webinar, visite: rb.gy/vb78g6

JOIN US TODAY ⬇️

TOMORROW! Remembering Covid / Remembering Mutual Aid - A Photography Exhibition curated by Cinthya Santos Briones

🗓️ Thursday, April 25, 2024
🕒 6:00 PM EST
📍 20 Cooper Sq., 5th FL, Hemispheric Institute

The Hemispheric Institute cordially invites you to the opening of Remembering Covid / Remembering Mutual Aid, a photography exhibition that ignites the memory of collective mobilization in immigrant communities across New York City during the COVID-19 pandemic. In recent months, the exhibition has traveled to churches and community organizations in Brooklyn, Queens, the South Bronx, and Upper Manhattan, serving as a place to gather and to recognize the work of hundreds of migrants and other volunteers who joined local mutual aid efforts.
The event will feature Myrna Lazcano (immigrant activist) Natalia Méndez (La Morada Mutual Aid Kitchen), Rommel Ojeda (Documented), exhibition curator Cinthya Santos Briones, and Marcial Godoy-Anativia (Hemispheric Institute).

To learn more and to register for the event, visit: bitly.ws/3icKS



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MAÑANA! Recordando el Covid / Recordando la Ayuda Mutua - Una exhibición fotográfica con curaduría de Cinthya Santos Briones

🗓️ Jueves, 25 de abril, 2024
🕒 6:00 PM EST
📍 20 Cooper Sq., 5th FL, Hemispheric Institute

The Hemispheric Institute les invita a la inauguración de Recordando el Covid / Recordando la Ayuda Mutua, una exhibicón de fotografías que despiertan el recuerdo de la movilización colectiva de las comunidades de inmigrantes de Nueva York durante el COVID-19. En los últimos meses, la exposición ha recorrido iglesias y organizaciones comunitarias e, Brooklyn, Queens, el South Bronx y Upper Manhattan, sirviendo de lugar de encuentro y de reconocimiento de la labor de cientos de inmigrantes y otros voluntarios que se sumaron a los esfuerzos locales de ayuda mutua.

El evento contará con la participación de Myrna Lazcano (activista inmigrante), Natalia Méndez (La Morada Mutual Aid Kitchen), Rommel Ojeda (Documented), con curaduría de Cinthya Santos Briones y Marcial Godoy-Anativia (Hemispheric Institute).

Para obtener más información y registrarse al evento, visite: bitly.ws/3icKK

Remembering Covid / Remembering Mutual Aid - A Photography Exhibition curated by Cinthya Santos Briones

🗓️ Thursday, April 25, 2024
🕒 6:00 PM EST
📍 20 Cooper Sq., 5th FL, Hemispheric Institute

The Hemispheric Institute cordially invites you to the opening of Remembering Covid / Remembering Mutual Aid, a photography exhibition that ignites the memory of collective mobilization in immigrant communities across New York City during the COVID-19 pandemic. In recent months, the exhibition has traveled to churches and community organizations in Brooklyn, Queens, the South Bronx, and Upper Manhattan, serving as a place to gather and to recognize the work of hundreds of migrants and other volunteers who joined local mutual aid efforts.
The event will feature Myrna Lazcano (immigrant activist) Natalia Méndez (La Morada Mutual Aid Kitchen), Rommel Ojeda (Documented), exhibition curator Cinthya Santos Briones, and Marcial Godoy-Anativia (Hemispheric Institute).

To learn more and to register for the event, visit: bitly.ws/3icKS



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Recordando el Covid / Recordando la Ayuda Mutua - Una exhibición fotográfica con curaduría de Cinthya Santos Briones

🗓️ Jueves, 25 de abril, 2024
🕒 6:00 PM EST
📍 20 Cooper Sq., 5th FL, Hemispheric Institute

The Hemispheric Institute les invita a la inauguración de Recordando el Covid / Recordando la Ayuda Mutua, una exhibicón de fotografías que despiertan el recuerdo de la movilización colectiva de las comunidades de inmigrantes de Nueva York durante el COVID-19. En los últimos meses, la exposición ha recorrido iglesias y organizaciones comunitarias e, Brooklyn, Queens, el South Bronx y Upper Manhattan, sirviendo de lugar de encuentro y de reconocimiento de la labor de cientos de inmigrantes y otros voluntarios que se sumaron a los esfuerzos locales de ayuda mutua.

El evento contará con la participación de Myrna Lazcano (activista inmigrante), Natalia Méndez (La Morada Mutual Aid Kitchen), Rommel Ojeda (Documented), con curaduría de Cinthya Santos Briones y Marcial Godoy-Anativia (Hemispheric Institute).

Para obtener más información y registrarse al evento, visite: bitly.ws/3icKK

45 Years of Ovahness, Realness & Performance: The Legacy of The House of Ultra Omni

🗓️ Thursday, April 18, 2024
🕒 7-9 pm (EST)
📍 20 Cooper Sq., 5th FL, Hemispheric Institute

Join us for an evening of ballroom and celebration as we honor the rich and expansive legacy of The House of Ultra Omni on the occasion of its 45th Anniversary. On January 21st, 1979, Kevin Burrus and Thomas “Dimples” Baker founded 'The House of Omni' in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. On that day, these pioneers of ballroom culture opened the dictionary and selected the word “Omni” to capture the omniscient, omnipotent, and omnifarious spirit of their undertaking. Soon after, Burrus initiated the move of house-structured balls from Harlem to downtown New York City.

Mellon Artist in Residence Diamond Pioneer Icon Kevin Ultra Omni Burrus will lead us on a journey in conversation with ballroom artists, historians, and archivists to discuss the groundbreaking artistry and activism of The House of Ultra Omni. Together, they will explore five decades of the creativity and the iconic expressions of freedom of dancers who continue to activate ancestral dance practices through their movement.

Panelists will include Diamond Pioneer Icon Kevin Ultra Omni Burrus, Legendary Icon Saladin Mohammed Omni, Archivist/Producer Felix Rodríguez Milan, House of Milan Iconic Hall of Famer Kai Milan Bond, and Ballroom scholar Victor Ultra Omni.

The event will be moderated by Camille Lawrence, ‘Lady C' of Ultra Omni and Associate Research Archivist at the Hemispheric Institute, and will be documented and preserved in the forthcoming House of Ultra Omni Collection in the Hemispheric Institute Digital Video Library (HIDVL).

This hybrid (in person & live streamed) event will be in English.

Learn more & RSVP: bitly.ws/3huE4

Multiple Imaginaries: Towards New Aesthetic Grammars - Rodrigo Severo in conversation with Rosane Borges

🗓️ Tuesday, April 16, 2024
🕒 5:00 PM EST

Journalist, researcher, teacher, and writer Rosane Borges will reflect on how the construction of new modes of representation and new regimes of visibility resist destitution, stereotyping, and racism, and examine how they provide new aesthetic, ethical, and political perspectives on restitution for subalternized subjects.

This online event will be in Portuguese with simultaneous English interpretation.

To learn more and to register for the webinar, visit: bitly.ws/3i4z2



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Imaginários Múltiplos: Por Novas Gramáticas Estéticas - Rodrigo Severo em conversa com Rosane Borges

🗓️ Terça-feira, 16 de abril de 2024
🕒 18:00, horário de São Paulo

Rosane Borges, jornalista, pesquisadora, professora e escritora, reflete sobre como a construção de novas ordens de representação e os novos regimes de visibilidade têm deslocado o lugar da destituição, do estereótipo e do racismo para o território da restituição das humanidades subalternizadas, sob uma ótica estética, ética e política.

Todas as conversas serão em português com tradução simultânea para o inglês.

Para saber mais sobre o ciclo e se cadastrar para os webinars, visite: bitly.ws/3i4Pp

“Performances Negras”: Tactics, Strategies and Barricades in Contemporary Brazil

🗓️ April - June, 2024

The Hemispheric Institute is proud to present “Performances Negras”: Tactics, Strategies and Barricades in Contemporary Brazil, a series of virtual conversations on performance, politics, representation, social justice, Blackness, and other urgent issues in contemporary Brazil. Curated and presented by artist, researcher, and professor Rodrigo Severo, this series of events will feature invited artists, activists, and intellectuals such as Rosane Borges, Castiel Vitorino Brasileiro, Débora Maria da Silva (Mothers of May Movement), Ayrson Heráclito, and Leda Maria Martins.

All conversations will be in Portuguese with simultaneous translation into English.

To learn more about the series and to register for the webinars, visit: bitly.ws/3hneq



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Performances Negras: Táticas, Estratégias e Barricadas no Brasil Contemporâneo

🗓️ Abril - Junho, 2024

O Instituto Hemisférico tem o orgulho de apresentar Performances Negras: Táticas, Estratégias e Barricadas no Brasil Contemporâneo, uma série de encontros virtuais sobre performance, política, imaginário, justiça social, negritude e reflexões sobre questões urgentes do Brasil contemporâneo, com curadoria e apresentação do artista, pesquisador e professor Rodrigo Severo. Para esta série de encontros, Severo convidou artistas, ativistas e intelectuais como Rosane Borges, Castiel Vitorino Brasileiro, Débora Maria da Silva (Movimento Mães de Maio), Ayrson Heráclito e Leda Maria Martins.

Todas as conversas serão em português com tradução simultânea para o inglês.

Para saber mais sobre o ciclo e se cadastrar para os webinars, visite: bit.ly/4am0NDu

45 Years of Ovahness, Realness & Performance: The Legacy of The House of Ultra Omni

🗓️ Thursday, April 18, 2024
🕒 7-9 pm (EST)
📍 20 Cooper Sq., 5th FL, Hemispheric Institute

Join us for an evening of ballroom and celebration as we honor the rich and expansive legacy of The House of Ultra Omni on the occasion of its 45th Anniversary. On January 21st, 1979, Kevin Burrus and Thomas “Dimples” Baker founded 'The House of Omni' in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. On that day, these pioneers of ballroom culture opened the dictionary and selected the word “Omni” to capture the omniscient, omnipotent, and omnifarious spirit of their undertaking. Soon after, Burrus initiated the move of house-structured balls from Harlem to downtown New York City.

Mellon Artist in Residence Diamond Pioneer Icon Kevin Ultra Omni Burrus will lead us on a journey in conversation with ballroom artists, historians, and archivists to discuss the groundbreaking artistry and activism of The House of Ultra Omni. Together, they will explore five decades of the creativity and the iconic expressions of freedom of dancers who continue to activate ancestral dance practices through their movement.

Panelists will include Diamond Pioneer Icon Kevin Ultra Omni Burrus, Legendary Icon Saladin Mohammed Omni, Archivist/Producer Felix Rodríguez Milan, Jeffrey LaBeija, and Victor Ultra Omni.

The event will be moderated by Camille Lawrence, ‘Lady C' of Ultra Omni and Associate Research Archivist at the Hemispheric Institute, and will be documented and preserved in the forthcoming House of Ultra Omni Collection in the Hemispheric Institute Digital Video Library (HIDVL).

This hybrid (in person & live streamed) event will be in English.

Learn more & RSVP: bitly.ws/3huE4

Mellon Artist in Residence Spring 2024 Daymé Arocena kicked off her residency at the Hemispheric Institute with three unforgettable events: “The Roots of Alchemy” with David Font-Navarrete, “Daymé Arocena in Concert” and “Music of Alchemy” with Jason King.

Thank you to everyone who attended and participated.

Check out our event page for full video documentation in the coming days: bitly.ws/3f4ea

TOMORROW!

Music of Alchemy/Música de Alkemi: Daymé Arocena in Conversation with Jason King

🗓️ Friday, March 1, 2024
🕒 6 pm (EST)
📍 20 Cooper Sq., 5th FL, Hemispheric Institute

Join us for a groundbreaking conversation between Afro-Cuban singer, composer, and Hemi Artist in Residence Daymé Arocena and music scholar, journalist, and producer Jason King. The conversation celebrates the release of Alkemi (Brownswood Recordings), Arocena’s breakthrough new album.

In conversation, Arocena and King will delve into the creation and composition of the long awaited album Alkemi and its fusion of neo soul singing, Afro-Caribbean beats, and slick new millennium pop. They will explore Arocena’s life story and genealogies and consider the challenges faced by Black artists who move across the boundaries of genre, language, and nation.They will talk about music, new and old grooves, new audiences, and what connects and separates Afro-latin artists and the U.S. and global pop music market.

The event will be in English.

This is an in-person event that requires registration. All non-NYU attendees must RSVP in advance. Video documentation will be made available on the Institute website following the event.

RSVP here: bitly.ws/3dYez

TOMORROW!

Daymé Arocena In Concert: “Alkemi” Record Release Show

🗓️ Thursday, February 29, 2024
🕖 7pm
📍 The Sultan Room, 234 Starr Street Brooklyn, NY

Join us as we celebrate the launch of “Alkemi” in a live concert with Mellon Artist in Residence Daymé Arocena and her band.

Daymé burst onto the international scene in 2015 with “Nueva Era”, her debut album. In 2021, she became the youngest Latin American musician to complete BerkleeCollege of Music’s Signature Artist program, joining the ranks of legends who influenced aspiring musicians at the prestigious institution. Arocena has reinvented her sound with her upcoming album “Alkemi”, set to be released on February 23, 2024, which blends neo-soul singing, Afro-Caribbean rhythms and pop. Collaborating with renowned producer Eduardo Cabra, special guest Vicente García on “A Fuego Lento,” and Rafa Pabön on “Suave y Pegao”, the album incorporates diverse influences, from jazz to urban style, challenging conventional notions of Latin pop.

Buy your tickets here: https://bitly.ws/3edEG

TOMORROW!

The Roots of Alchemy/Las raíces de Alkemi—Listening Session with Daymé Arocena and David Font-Navarrete

🗓️ Wednesday, February 28, 2024
🕕 6 pm (EST)
📍 Center for Ballet and the Arts Studio, 16 Cooper Square, New York University

Join us for a listening session and conversation between Daymé Arocena and David Font-Navarrete, two of our distinguished 2024 Mellon Fellows in Residence, as they discuss the sacred roots of Afro-Cuban music, both in historical sound archives and in Arocena’s own creations. Arocena is a practitioner of Santería, Afro-Cuban religion based on Yoruba principles, and speaks frequently of its influence on her artistic journey. Their dialogue will engage Arocena’s work as well as music from Música de los cultos africanos en Cuba (Music of the African Cults in Cuba), a remarkable audio archive of Afro-Cuban sacred music, recorded at mid-twentieth century by Josefina Tarafa in collaboration with Cuban ethnographer Lydia Cabrera.

The event will be in Spanish.

This is an in-person event that requires registration. All non-NYU attendees must RSVP in advance.

RSVP and more info: bitly.ws/3dSEQ