Saturday, July 24th, 2010 from 12:00pm to 5:00pm
Events are at several venues:
Sara D. Roosevelt Park
Grand & Chrystie Streets
New York NY 10002
New Museum
235 Bowery (at Prince Street betw Stanton & Rivington Streets; one and a half blocks south of Houston)
New York, NY 10002
(212) 219-1222
Subway: 6 to Spring Street; N, R to Prince Street
Cost: Free
For all ages
Join in the New Museum Block Party 2010, a day of art activities and performances in Sara D. Roosevelt Park! Enjoy a range of interactive projects with artists and educators, and programs related to the neighborhood and the New Museum—and receive a complementary guest pass to visit the New Museum on the day of the event.
The New Museum Block Party is free and open to the public. Everyone is welcome!
Performances from 1 to 4:30pm
Poet and storyteller Pappa Susso, 1pm presented by the Bowery Poetry Club.
LoVid presented by Lower Manhattan Cultural Council’s Sitelines 2010 site-specific contemporary dance and performance festival, 1:30pm
Beatboxer Adam Matta, 2:30 pm
Urbana Poetry Slam, presented by the Bowery Poetry Club, 3:30pm
Musical performance by Hisham Akira Bharoocha, 4:30pm
Activities from 12–5 p.m.Inspired by Rivane Neuenschwander’s work Involuntary Sculptures (Speech Acts), engage in conversations with other Block Party guests while creating three-dimensional doodles. Also participate in various games and activities inspired by Neuenschwander’s exhibition, A Day Like Any Other.
In Postcards to AZ, visitors to the New Museum Block Party are invited to write a postcard to their neighbors in AZ affected by the imminent implementation of SB1070 an Arizona law that allows police officers to check the immigration status of any person stopped for a separate cause. For the project, collaborators Benj Gerdes and Jennifer Hayshida have created postcards depicting several historic sites of immigrant protest and resistance in New York City’s Lower East Side. Selected quotations from the law, scheduled to go into effect on July 29, as well as copies of SB 1070 translated into Chinese and Spanish will be available so New York visitors can learn more about it and consider its implications. Multilingual interpreters are available to explain key passages and can assist visitors interested in sending a postcard. Completed postcards will be sent to a network of community-based organizations in Arizona and displayed publicly.
For the artists, Postcards to AZ is an articulation of cross-ethnic solidarity and an investigation into how non-border states are impacted by public debate concerning national borders. The project considers the concept of the border, as legal and cultural barricades continue to be erected around all forms of national belonging including language, education, and employment.
Discover the Bowery! Participate in a walking tour lead by members of the East Village History Projecthighlighting the history, art, and architecture of the neighborhood. Tours will begin at the Alamo sculpture (known as the Cube) by Bernard (Tony) Rosenthal, located on Bowery at Astor Place, and end at the New Museum.
Create ink drawings inspired by the current exhibition Brion Gysin: Dream Machine, giving abstract shape to your initials, transforming the letters into a personal glyph.
Enjoy screenings of the REDCAT International Children’s Film Festival in the New Museum Theater at 12:30, 2, and 4 pm
Be a Bowery Poet.
Poetry is a part of the rich past and present of the Bowery. Create acrostic poems in interactive workshops led by Gary Glazer, founder and Executive Director of the Alzheimer's Poetry Project, (APP) presented by the Goethe-Insitut.
Museum Tours, 12:15–5:15 pm
Docent-led tours depart Sara D. Roosevelt Park for the New Museum to explore the current exhibitions hourly beginning at 12:15 p.m. Free admission to the New Museum will be provided to Block Party visitors (passes are available from New Museum staff members at the event).
Bowery Artist Tribute
Both a celebration and exploration of our neighborhood, the Bowery Artist Tribute explores the history of artists on this famed thoroughfare. Throughout the 20th century, the Bowery was a richly diverse commercial and residential district as well as an infamous “skid row.” But its other little-known history is as an active creative community of artists including Mark Rothko, Roy Lichtenstein, Adrian Piper, Brice Marden, Eva Hesse, Amiri Baraka, and hundreds of others. Consisting of onsite and online resources, publications, and public programs, the Bowery Artist Tribute is a vibrant connecting point for our visitors and neighbors to tap into the history of the neighborhood, its creative residents, and its contributions to contemporary culture.
REDCAT International Children’s Film Festival at the New Museum
Celebrate the best and brightest in international children's cinema with an extravaganza of films from more than twenty-three countries! Take a celluloid carpet ride around the globe to see films that are inspiring, magical, one-of-a-kind—and definitely not available on DVD. These programs from REDCAT International Children's Film Festival include gentle shorts for tiny first-time movie-goers, chills and thrills for older and more adventurous viewers, and films that will inspire young people to get involved and make a difference. What better way to spend a hot summer afternoon than to sink into the comfort of the New Museum's cool, cozy theater, and see international films made for the next generation of movie lovers?
Curated by Elizabeth Shepherd, Northwest Film Forum.
12:30 pm - Totally Tall Tales
Gather around for a high-spirited collection of Greek myths, African fables, Mexican and Brazilian legends, Hungarian folk tales, Irish yarns, and new fantastical tales.
2:00 pm - Passport
On this cinematic voyage you'll hear stories from Madagascar, Mexico, Iran, Brazil, Palestine, India, and Kenya, and meet real-life kids who are making a difference.
4:00 pm - Animation Brigade
Since the 1990s, a talented group of Latvian animators have been creating puppet animation films that have delighted children all over the world. Join us for a special salute to AB Studio's “rescue team,” “Munk and Lemmy,” and “animals” films, and travel to a wonderland full of brave, roguish, and mischievous creatures.
The New Museum Block Party is supported by Goldman, Sachs & Co. Community TeamWorks.
