2017, Latin America, Past, Politics, Residencies, Summer, Talk / Panel, Visual Art, Workshops

Constructivist Month

Posted on by Alejandro

The Loisaida Center is proud to announce

Constructivist Month

 

A Constructivist View: The artist in the Community, the artist in the Universe

Goals and overview:  In Commemoration of Joaquín Torres García

  • Series of workshops and conferences on Joaquín Torres García Constructivism in Spanish and English language.
  • Artist open-studio (Every Thursday, Friday & Saturday from 1pm to 6pm)

1.Introductory Workshops on Constructivist Aesthetics By María Eugenia Méndez-Marconi

BIO: María Eugenia Méndez-Marconi,

Friday, July 14: Initial theoretical instance, J.T.G biographical presentation (7-9pm)

Saturday, July 15: Introductory Workshops on Constructivist Aesthetics. (For youngsters from 12 to 16 years old from 9 am-1pm, and for those over 17 years old, from 3-6pm)

2.Exposition of the Constructivist Doctrine By Marcos Torres Andrada

BIO: Marcos Torres Andrada, son of the painter Augusto Torres, who received by direct oral tradition, the philosophy proposed by his grandfather, Maestro Joaquín Torres García, in his Constructivist School.

Friday, July 21: Conference: “Relevancy and Urgency of the Constructivist Proposal”(7-9pm) This conference will bring to light fundamental concepts of the Constructivist Proposal highly relevant in the Contemporaneity of the American Continent and global challenges.

Friday, July 28: Tribute to Maestro Torres García’s Legacy. Introduction to Constructivist Thinking (7-9pm)

This commemorative event, has been held for fifty consecutive years, thanks to the  Uruguayan Embassy, Consulate and Uruguayan Diaspora of NYC. Torres-Garcia’s grandson, Marcos Torres, will be present to give a brief scope of the hemispheric influence of his grandfather’s influential Escuela Constructivista in Uruguay and the rest of the world from its beginning to the present day.

Saturday, July 29: Comments on the text “The Tradition of the Abstract Man” (9:00 am-5:00pm, with recess from 12: 30 to 2:00 pm)

Original intensive workshop, developed by  that will deepen the constructivist concepts of visionary Torres García, making a thorough reading and revision of his text “The Tradition of the Abstract Man”.

Friday, September 22: Conference: “Relevancy and Urgency of the Constructivist Proposal”(7-9pm)

  • Theoretical lecture on concepts dealing with the exhibition (Dates TBD)

 

2017, Bilingual, Book Readings, Books, Caribbean, Caribbean Heritage, Events, Past, Politics, Senior, Storytelling, Talk / Panel, Theater

Vitrina Rota – book talk with Silverio Pérez

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Wednesday, March 29th at 6:30pm

Loisaida Inc. Center hosts Silverio Pérez in the presentation and signing of autographs for his new book:

La Vitrina Rota “The Broken Glass Case” or What the hell happened here?

THIS EVENT HAS PASSED. SEE A VIDEO OF THE LIVE BROADCAST BELOW:

About the book:

The broken glass case, or what the hell happened here? Is a hybrid text that takes hold of what memory is and what memory offers, it is autobiographical, and a “history-o-graphic” essay. Narrated using the most respectable seriousness, the most pure emotion and a suggestive taunt, it leaves us a text that invites reflection and calm, but also calls to action and maybe encourages a calculated rebellion. All written in a tragicomic or comedic-serious tone so typical of the picaresque narrative that accompanies the Puerto Ricans from a remote past.

What Silverio does in this intense and moving volume is to look at that long 20th century that began in 1898 and continues in 2016, the American century, in the light of a repeated “promise” unfulfilled.

Exceptional witness of the time he has lived will prepare the reader for a time where “history” and “life” converge in an enviable balance.

It is also a historical and vital responsibility, well fulfilled.

Read Press Release here.

About the author:

Silverio Pérez (born July 18, 1948) is a musician, writer, comedian, entrepreneur and broadcasting media host, born in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. He is known for several reasons, among them:

  • Hosting several successful Puerto Rican television shows during his career.
  • Performing with the known group of political satire called Los Rayos Gamma (The Gamma Rays)[1][2]
  • Performing with the nueva trova group called Haciendo Punto en Otro Son.
  • His motivational lectures which are usually called “Humortivación” (Humortivation).
2017, Bilingual, Caribbean, Caribbean Heritage, Education, Family Activities, Latin America, Past, Politics, Talk / Panel, Visual Art

CitiCien Exhibit Artist Talk

Posted on by Alejandro

Thursday, March 16 at 6 PM – 8 PM

Join us on Thursday March 16th for an artist talk featuring many of our participating artists.

The artists will share about themselves and their artistic practice, as well as the meaning behind the artworks they created for the CitiCien exhibit.

RSVP HERE.

SPEAKING ARTISTS:
Bonafide Rojas
Carlos Jesus Martinez Dominguez
Melissa Montero
Vagaond Alexander Beaumont
Yasmín Hernández
Will Rosado
Juan Sanchez
Manny Vega
Jean Oyola
Shellyne Rodriguez

Other artists in attendance:
Sofia Maldonado
Daniel Alago
Nelson Host Santiago
Leenda Bonilla
Luis Pagan
Jo-El Lopez
Nia Andino
Oliver Rios

Signed in 1917 by President Wilson, The Jones-Shafroth Act granted U.S. citizenship to anyone born in Puerto Rico on or after April 25, 1898, a complex and significant turning point for the people of Puerto Rico.

Following strict visual guidelines of size and a black-and-white only palette, the exhibit’s theme is one of visual consistency and commitment, acting as a metaphor of the unified voice and solidarity of Puerto Ricans during this critical political time. Coinciding with the 100 year anniversary of the signing of the Jones Act, CITICIEN, in an effort to nurture greater solidarity and collaboration, will feature 100 Puerto Rican artists from the island and the diaspora.

Curated by Puerto Rican artist Adrián Viajero Román, DEFEND PUERTO RICO’s CITICIEN traveling exhibition will feature 100 artworks highlighting the historical and present-day impact of the Jones Act.

About DEFEND PUERTO RICO
Defend PR is a multimedia project designed to document and celebrate Puerto Rican creativity, resilience, and resistance. Recognizing the complex and dynamic landscapes that comprise Puerto Rican daily life and struggle, Defend PR seeks to deepen connections between Puerto Ricans on the island and throughout the diaspora, in the hopes of nurturing greater solidarity, collaboration, and kinship.

#CITICIENPR #DEFENDPR
Visit www.defendpr.com
www.facebook.com/Defendpr / instagram.com/defendpr

 

Cover photo: “Wall of Resistance” by Leenda Bonilla + Luis Pagan
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2017, Bilingual, Education, Events, Lower East Side, Neighborhood, Partners, Partnerships, Past, Politics, Talk / Panel

Our Voices Ring Loud Town Hall!

Posted on by Alejandro
Our voices ring loud town hall meeting: Wednesday, March 1st at 6:00 pm.
The Clemente Soto Velez Cultural & Educational Center – 107 Suffolk St, New York, NY 10002
 
Loisaida & The NYC Cultural Plan – Our Voices Ring Loud Town Hall Meeting! Loisaida Inc. leads the local cultural planning project, in partnership with the Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural & Educational Center and Teatro SEA that will ensure that Latino arts organizations, cultural workers, and residents in Lower Manhattan are heard and their recommendations included in the City’s 10 year cultural plan. Loisaida Inc. was chosen from a competitive pool of applicants as one of the winning proposals to conduct community engagement and feed-back activities around the City’s cultural planning process, which will wrap up in the late spring of 2017.
Be Heard! Participate!

This Loisaida-led Project to Help Inform New York City’s Cultural Plan is Funded by:

New York City Cultural Agenda Fund in The New York Community Trust.

Events, Film, Lower East Side, Neighborhood, New York History, Past, Photography, Poetry, Politics, Storytelling, Talk / Panel, Theater, Visual Art, Youth

Walled Worlds

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Loisaida Inc. and Atomic Culture are proud to present:

Walled Worlds: Border Publics, Cultural Activism and Urban Planning.

Panel: Thursday, February 9th at 6:00 pm.
Loisaida Inc. – 710 East 9th Street New York, NY 10009

Renowned scholars, artists, cultural activists and critics–Ricardo Dominguez, Teddy Cruz, Fonna Forman and Ed Morales–ccome together to discuss their distinct yet cross-cultural perspectives on the intersections of arts and culture, activism and policy, and forced migration and community building, utilizing examples of neighborhoods including the Lower East Side.

We will consider how might our cultural activism, advocacy, and participatory planning begin working to create stronger collaborative movements and build solidarity within and beyond our multiple communities?

In the face of political uncertainties, we will also consider what tactics and strategies work to strengthen cultural equity advocacy, to influence policy and to advance equity principles as part of what should be enshrined in NYC’s cultural plan. A report-back on the discussion will be included as a set of recommendations to the New York City Council’s 10 year Cultural Plan.

FREE

Please RSVP, limited capacity!

Events, Film, Lower East Side, Neighborhood, New York History, Past, Photography, Poetry, Politics, Storytelling, Talk / Panel, Theater, Visual Art, Youth

Ours to Lose: When Squatters Became Homeowners in New York City

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Loisaida Inc. and the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation are proud to present:

Ours to Lose: When Squatters Became Homeowners in New York City

The Lower East Side in the 1980s and 90s was home to a radical squattingmovement that
blended urban homesteading and European-style squatting in a way never before seen in the
United States.

Ours to Lose takes a close look at a diverse group of Lower East Side squatters who occupied abandoned city-owned buildings in the 1980s, fought to keep them for decades, and eventually began a long, complicated process to turn their illegal occupancy into legal cooperative ownership.

In this multimedia event Starecheski will use oral histories to explore the complicated
relationships between homesteading and squatting on the Lower East Side, and in American
history.

Amy Starecheski is co-director of the Oral History Master of Arts program at Columbia
University. She received a PhD in cultural anthropology from the CUNY Graduate Center, where
she was a Public Humanities Fellow. In 2016 she was awarded the “Will the Next Margaret
Mead Please Stand Up?” Prize for public anthropological writing.

Check out video of the talk below:

2017, Caribbean, Central America, Education, Latin America, Partnerships, Past, Performance, Residencies, Talk / Panel, Visual Art, Workshops, Youth

Future Now // Futura Ahora (Exhibition Opening)

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Atomic Culture in collaboration with the Loisaida Inc. Center as part of the 2017 Art Residency Program at Loisaida. presents:

Future Now // Futura Ahora

Exhibition open from February 4 to March 18, 2017

Opening Reception: February 4th, 2017 from 6:00pm – 8:00pm

Details:

Future Now // Futura Ahora calls to attention the movement of artists reclaiming and reconfiguring their cultural disposition and narratives with society at large. Through sound, installation, literature, and visual arts each artist presents compelling possibilities for the future by embracing and reclaiming their histories, traditions, and present-day experiences.

During Atomic Culture’s curatorial artist residency at the Loisaida Center. They will bringing together 15 artists native to the southwest United States, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, and California to discuss futurism and geopolitics. Futurism is not just about technology but an act of self preservation and concern toward the creation and dismemberment of invisible borders, pillaging of natural resources, and colonization. Through decolonization and reclamation of traditions, personal culture, land and natural medicine.

Within the exhibition and workshops each artist addresses these issues blending their complex histories with a contemporary perspective creating a new trajectory.

Future Now/Futura Ahora will host multiple workshops on reclaiming use of the land and the natural remedies she provides you, discussions and screenings on chicanx futurism. The exhibition serving as a catalyst to discuss and initiate thinking and being in a time of increased tension and unknown.

Artists:

Electronic Disturbance Theater 2.0, Nani Chacon, Gilbert “Magú” Luján, Ryan Dennison, Zeke Pena, Chico MacMurtrie, Claudia X. Valdes, Ruben Ortiz Torres, William Camargo, Rick Cortez, Lindsay Kane, Delilah Montoya, Cristobal Martinez, Scott Williams, Cultural Workers, and a SSSK Distro retrospective.

2016, Books, Education, Events, New York History, Partners, Talk / Panel, Visual Art

War in the Neighborhood: Gentrification and Graphic Art

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War in the Neighborhood: Gentrification and Graphic Art

with Seth Tobocman

Music by Eric Blitz, Andy Laties and Joe Merolla.

Tuesday, November 15th, 6:30 – 8:00 p.m.

Published in 1999, Seth Tobocman’s War in the Neighborhood remains one of the most relevant graphic novels exploring housing and community issues. Called a “masterpiece of gentrification” and “the comic book version of Rent,” War in the Neighborhood is a riveting first-hand account of radical neighborhood transformations in late 80’s and early 90’s New York.

With nuance and candor, Tobocman tells the tales of courageous communities built from rubble while exploring the moral complexities inherent in any movement, and the struggles against displacement that continue in varied forms today.

To coincide with the republishing of this classic novel by Ad Asta Comix, Tobocman will lead an illustrated discussion of his experiences, his art, and how the two intersect.

Seth Tobocman co- founded the magazine World War 3 Illustrated and is the author of many graphic books including his latest, Len, A Lawyer in History, about civil rights attorney Leonard Weinglass. His illustrations have appeared in The New York Times, the Village Voice, The Museum of Modern Art, The New Museum of Contemporary Art, posters, banners, murals, patches and tattoos by people’s movements all over the world.

This event is co-sponsored with GVSHP.

Below there is video documentation of the event for those who missed it.