5th Annual Loisaida Festival TheaterLab 2018

Co-produced by MEZCOLANZA NYC & Loisaida Inc.

Starting at 12:00 pm on La Plaza Cultural Community Garden

[Read Press Release here!]


The Loisaida Festival’s Theater Lab, a production of Loisaida Inc. with Mezcolanza NYC, returning for the third year to the Plaza Cultural on the SW corner of 9th Street & Avenue C in the East Village as part of the annual Loisaida Festival on Sunday, May 27th. Among the highlights of the program is the New York premiere of ¡Ay María!, a play that explores the post-Maria reality for an isolated group of neighbors in Puerto Rico that must come together after the storm.

The play was initially written to provide catharsis to performer and audience alike following the devastation of Hurricane Maria. In turn, members of Mezcolanza NYC will be among those discussing the role of contemporary theater and performance in post-Maria Puerto Rico as part of a panel discussion organized by the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center, which will take place days before the festival, on Thursday, May 24th at 6pm.

Loisaida Inc. remains committed to the voices of Puerto Rican playwrights and performers in wake of Hurricane Maria. Following a special one-night only performance of Pateco, el sepulturero by acclaimed Puerto Rican actor Teofilo Torres this past December, the Loisaida Center will again host another timely theatrical work that addresses the aftermath of Hurricane Maria with humor, improvisation, satire, and introspection.

This creative window into the island’s trauma and the resilience of local communities is also an extension of the theme of the annual Loisaida Festival: “Bridging Resurgence: From Sandy to Maria.”


Schedule:


12:00 pm. Fernandito Ferrer / DJ /

 

 

 

 

 

 

About the artist: Fernandito Ferrer is a soulful singer-songwriter of nueva trova and folk fusion from Sabana Grande, PR. This year at Loisaida’s TheaterLab he will be spinning an eclectic mix of reggae, pop and soul to jump start the afternoon. Fernandito is a long time Loisaida contributor and once again we have been fortunate to have him as  TheaterLab’s  stage manager. His services as a stage manager are very underrated as he’s experience spans over 20 years in the industry.


12:25 pm. Julián Garnik / Performance / 2018 Loisaida Theater Lab Emcee

Title: A mis Amigos de la Locura

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About the artist: Julián Garnik is an actor and director from Puerto Rico based in New York City. His theatre credits include Jacob in Morning at the Bridge Theatre in Manhattan and El actor tiene permisos part of the III Festival del Monólogo Latinoamericano in Cienfuegos, Cuba. As a director, his short films La Secadora and Tessellation have been screened in several festivals around the world, such as the Puerto Rican Heritage Film Festival and the Durham Regional International Film Festival.


12:35 pm. Anthony Rosado / Performance /

Title: Hatuey’s Dream

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About the piece:  For the sake of revealing true stories, archiving indigenous & contemporary Caribbean practices, and sharing methods of ancestral commemoration, I will facilitate interviews. As part of the Native Caribbean Heritage Preservation Project, the interviews function to provide future generations with the inherent understanding of where they come from, so they may know who to become. Interviews with historians, contemporary practitioners, and other descendants of Caribbean peoples will be recorded in effort to (1) act as a digital archive with printed transcriptions and (2) portions of each interview will be presented in a solo performance where I embody each interviewee. This form of oratory storytelling descends from Native Caribbean communicative modes of information sharing and is glorified in Hatuey’s Dream.


12:50 pm. Calle Joroba / Clown Theatre /

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About the artist: : Calle Joroba es un colectivo de clown teatral, teatro físico, circo y títeres creado por el mimo, teatrero y maestro Luis Oliva en el año 2014. La misión del colectivo es poder exponer a través de estas técnicas temas universales como lo son la creación, la escasez del agua, la contaminación del aire, entre más. Su repertorio de piezas incluyen “Am i Ea” (2015), la primera pieza que estrenó el colectivo en el Circo Fest En el 2015 y “Wata” (2016) también presentada en el Circo Fest, que luego estuvo de gira por diferentes escuelas en Puerto Rico. .


1:15 pm. Casa Cruz de la Luna / Theater /

Title: The Marquis de Sade is Afraid of the Sea (second movement)

 

 

 

 

 

 

About the piece: A re-visitation of the 1918 legendary earthquake in the South West of Puerto Rico; bodies resurrected from the flood; agitation of the masses, and the peaceful violence of quotidian life meet in the staging of this text by Aravind Enrique Adyanthaya. Featuring: Alejandra Morales, Christopher Cancel, Laura Mercedes and Caridad del Valle.


1:35 pm. Teatro 220 / Improv Troupe /

 

 

 

 

 

 

About the artists: Grupo de jóvenes actores latinos que por medio de la improvisación teatral, llevamos comedia, música y entretenimiento para toda la familia. Nuestro fin es llevar alegría, risas e impactar a su audiencia con un mensaje refrescante y positivo. El grupo está compuesto por: Andrés López-Alicea, Gilberto Gabriel, Zuleinette Ralat y Venuz Delmar. Teatro 220, significa que somos ese conducto de 22O voltios de locura por el cual transmitimos alegría y carcajadas a nuestro público.


02:00 pm Mezcolanza NYC Performances 


1. Kairiana Núñez / Performance / 15 min

Title: Chiquita

 

 

 

 

 

 

About the piece: In Chiquitita, Ms. Miller Parachute Woman is a character that moves between ridiculous and reality. Between the joke and the speeches that have us cornered in the dependency.
She is a right-wing military officer. She is a recalcitrant Republican. She repeats neoliberal spiels as if there were critical ideas she owns. The fact is that many military were part of the so-called “Reconstruction” of Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. They took over the streets along with the local police. The military returned, as they always return.

En Chiquitita, la Sra. Miller Parachute Woman es un personaje que se mueve entre el ridículo y la realidad. Entre el chiste y los discursos que nos tienen acorralados en la dependencia. Ella es una oficial del ejército de derecha. Ella es una republicana recalcitrante. Ella repite el discurso neoliberal como si tuviera ideas críticas que le pertenecen. El hecho es que muchos militares fueron parte de la llamada “Reconstrucción” de Puerto Rico después del huracán María. Tomaron las calles junto con la policía local. Los militares regresaron, como siempre regresan.

About the artist: Actress taurine and Puerto Rican. Graduated from the Drama Department of the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, (2009). She began his career in 1996 with Pedro Santaliz, and later became a founding member of the theater group in the streets Jóvenes del 98 under the direction of Maritza Pérez Otero. Later she continued his training with Puerto Rican teachers and artists Rosa Luisa Márquez, Teresa Hernández, Viveca Vázquez, among others. In Argentina, she trained at Sportivo Teatral with Mirta Bogdasarian and Ricardo Bartís (2011-2013, Buenos Aires), and was part of the Quinto Piso Theater Companies, directed by Daniel Godoy, and El Rizoma Collective (2011-2016, Buenos Aires) . In 2017 she returns to Puerto Rico, where despite the imbalance, she bets on continuing to grow artistically, professionally and ideologically.


2. Karen Langevin / Performance / 15 min

Title: Fortune

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About the piece: An interactive whimsical game of chance that uses improvisational movement to foretell. Fortune winks at the futility of our desire to know the future through the unavoidable presence of the body.

Fortuna, Un juego de azar interactivo que usa la improvisación de movimiento como herramienta para predecir. FORTUNA es un guiño a nuestro deseo banal de conocer el futuro, usando la inevitable presencia del cuerpo.
​diseño camisa: ​Zaida Goveo Balmaseda.


3. Luna y Vecky / Musical Performance / 30 min

Title: Luna y Vecky

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About the piece:  After having expanded their audience to more than 15 people, Luna and Vecky decide to make a little concert in ​the Loisaida Theater Lab​. Luna and Vecky studied music at Berkley and fuse their music with different musical genres and performance. They use their music to express their darker feelings. They have been depressed for more than 10 years.

Luego de haber expandido su público a más de 15 personas, Luna y Vecky deciden hacer un conciertito en el Loisaida Theater Lab dentro de la Plataforma Mezcolanza​. Luna y Vecky estudiaron música en Berkley y fusionan su música con distintos géneros musicales y performance. Usan su música para expresar sus sentimientos más oscuros. Llevan en depresión más de 10 años.


03:30 pm ¡Ay María!


4. ¡Ay María! / Short Play / 30 min

 

About the piece:   Some neighbors who did not know each other before hurricane Maria, have joined after the catastrophe, to collect debris, share food and rely on their needs. These neighbors are the actors and actresses. Some of the people / characters represented in the piece are taken from the Puerto Rican reality, people / characters that we find in our neighborhoods, urbanizations or towns. We also parody public figures and politicians who through the media have been part of the hurricane experience.

Cast: Mickey Negrón, Mariana Carbonell, José Eugenio Hernández, José Luis Guitierrez, Marisa Gómez
directed by​: Maritza Pérez Otero​

Unos vecinos que no se conocían antes del huracán se unen después de la catástrofe, para recoger escombros, compartir la comida y apoyarse en sus necesidades. Estos vecinos son los actores y actrices. Algunos de las personas/personajes representados en la pieza son sacados de la realidad puertorriqueña, personas/personajes que encontramos en nuestros barrios, urbanizaciones o pueblos. También parodiamos las figuras públicas y los políticos que a través de los medios han sido parte de la experiencia huracanada.

​Elenco: Mickey Negrón, Mariana Carbonell, José Eugenio Hernández, José Luis Guitierrez, Marisa Gómez
Dirección: Martiza Pérez Otero.


5. Mickey Negrón / Performance / 15 min.

Title: Carpeta

 

 

 

 

 

 

About the piece: A look at the process of persecution that the Puerto Rico Nationalist Party experienced in the past and the current crisis.

​U​na mirada al el proceso de persecución que vivió​ el movimiento nacionalista de PR en el pasado y la ​resistencia actual.


6. Paulina Pagán / Performance / 15 min.

Title: Bestias de paraíso 2 – El fuego y la jicotea*

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About the piece: In honor of my Caribbean grandmothers, especially Levina Wiltshire (1938-2014) In this piece my body becomes a river, a vessel, a bridge between my ancestors, our island ecology, Puerto Rican bomba, its violent history and the joy of dancing. *The jicotea (Trachemys stejnegeri stejnegeri) is the only native Puerto Rican freshwater turtle. The bomba song “El fuego y la jicotea,” composed by Christian Tonos, ignited this creative process.

A mis abuelas caribeñas, en especial a Levina Wiltshire (1938-2014) En esta pieza mi cuerpo funge de río, de nave, de puente entre mis muertas, la ecología isleña, la bomba puertorriqueña, su sangrienta historia y el placer de bailar. *La jicotea (Trachemys stejnegeri stejnegeri) es la única tortuga nativa de agua dulce de Puerto Rico. La canción de bomba “El fuego y la jicotea,” compuesta por Christian Tonos, fue uno de los detonantes de este proceso creativo.


6. Eduardo Alegría and Desmar Guevara / Musical Performance / 30 min.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About the artist: Puerto Rican musician and singer-songwriter, developed in theater and experimental dance, improvisation, democracy and politicization of the body. This amalgam of disciplines informs his work. Part of training as an actor he did with the director Maritza Pérez Otero in the political theater. He is an observer of the country and of society.On this occasion he will sing accompanied by Desmar Guevara on the piano.

Músico y cantautor puertorriqueño, desarrollado en el teatro y en la danza experimental, la improvisación, la democracia y politización del cuerpo. Esta amalgama de disciplinas informa su trabajo. Parte de formación como actor lo hizo junto a la directora Maritza Pérez Otero en el teatro político. Se nombra a sí mismo como: un observador del país y de la sociedad.​ En esta ocasión cantará acompañado por Desmar Guevara en el piano.


Mezcolanza NYC


About TheaterLab co-producers:

MEZCOLANZA NYC 2018 – 13th Edition

Mezcolanza is a cultural platform born in 2013 in the city of Buenos Aires produced by Helen Ceballos. It gathers short pieces of artists and multi-disciplinary collectives in order to maintain a live and open stage for the processes and creations of emerging artists in different cities around the world. We aim to erase distances and expose pieces of author, which account for the social reality that is lived in our changing environments. To date, Mezcolanza has hosted over 250 artists among the cities of Buenos Aires, New York and San Juan de Puerto Rico. On this occasion, Mezcolanza visits the city of New York for the third time and celebrates its twelfth edition. We have convened 14 multidisciplinary artists. These artists work in theater, performance, movement, music, improvisation, construction, musical composition, costume making, sculptures, sound and video art. In this edition of the Festival Loisaida and within the framework of the Theater Lab. Mezcolanza presents the urban interventions of 14 outstanding artists from the local and international scene of Puerto Rico, Latin America and the United States, interlacing the scenic discourses of these creative artists with their status as permanent immigrants.


04:35 pm Community Pageant


Loisaida Community / Short Play / 20 min

Photo by: Ryan John Lee

 

About the piece:   The pageant is a large scale outdoor performance, using giant puppets, painted flats, masks, costumes, music and dance performed by and for the community to tell the their own story.


#LoisaidaFest@LoisaidaFest

The 31st Loisaida Festival

The 2018 Loisaida Festival

Sunday, May 27th 2018

11:00am – 5:00pm

Avenue C Corridor / Loisaida Avenue / Alphabet City.


The Loisaida Festival is the largest ethnic community pride festival in the Lower East Side. On the Sunday before Memorial Day, over 29,000 converged on Avenue C— Loisaida Avenue to participate in last years amazing street fair event. More locals, citywide, regional and global visitors pack the Avenue every year. The Loisaida Festival offers diverse manifestations of the Puerto Rican and Latino cultures expressed through music, dance, live theatre performances, cuisine, and the arts and crafts of the many artisans that are our prime vendors. Besides delivering top-notch live musical entertainment that features well-known names, the event is also a venue for local artists and emerging talent. It also serves as an important vehicle to disseminate educational, wellness and community services information to its visitors.

The Loisaida Festival, along with the colorful and expressive Artist/ Community Parade that precedes and kicks-off the day-long event, have become the annual signature Loisaida, Inc. production that brings together all cultures to celebrate the inclusive spirit of the LES. Funds raised go directly to our non-profit for programming and community services that are based out of our new Loisaida Community Center on 9th Street and Avenue C, where we now enjoy a long-term lease [50 years] for our 10,000 square foot facility. Our corporate, public and individual supporters that contribute generously to the event appreciate that the Sunday, May 27th Festival is a true culmination of a year-long community curated program of workshops, residencies, intergenerational activities and partnerships that are the foundation of, and create the energy and impetus behind the Festival.

Your support guarantees innovative cultural and community development programs in media and technology, healthy living, as well as our culinary arts component in development of our upcoming teaching commercial kitchen, plus much more, it keeps our community thriving!

From contract to cleanup, the Loisaida team aims to meet sponsor expectations at every level providing an excellent opportunity to engage thousands of festival visitors on the day, and display branding Logo throughout social media, and beyond, for many preceding and subsequent months.


Taller de Soles (Sol Lace Workshop)

Sol Lace Workshop /// Taller de Soles
with: Zaida Adriana Goveo Balmaseda

Description
Learn how to make beautiful and intricate lace pieces through a simple and meditative
technique with Puerto Rican fiber artist, Zaida Adriana Goveo Balmaseda, who will
introduce us to the technique as it is worked in her native country of Puerto Rico.
Understanding the essence of the technique gives us a vocabulary that we can apply in
both traditional and experimental/contemporary contexts.

What are Soles?
Sol lace is a type of needle lace usually worked in pieces or appliqués. The technique
consists of drawing a net of thread and then weaving and knotting radially to form
patterns. It has its origins in Spain and arrived to the Americas in the 16th century,
where it continued to develop into variations known as Ñandutí, Soles de Maracaibo,
Renda, and simply Soles. Sol Lace is most often used to decorate heirloom clothing,
baby blankets and home linens, but also assembled to create beautiful lace fabrics and
accessories.

Workshop – “Immersive Introduction to Sol Lace” – 6 hrs
Join us for an immersive workshop, where you will learn about the origins of the
technique and see traditional and contemporary examples. Zaida Adriana will share the
basic knowledge to make Soles of different sizes, shapes, and decorative patterns. You
will leave with two completed Soles, and the materials to keep creating and
experimenting.

Details
Duration total: 6 hours (2 days)
Languages: English and Spanish
Level: No previous knowledge required
Number of participants: min. 5, max. 8
Price: $80 (includes materials fee)
Materials included in KIT: Sol cushion, Sol pattern, needle, thread, and instruction
booklet
Dates: Monday, April 23rd from 6-9pm / Tuesday, April 24th 6-9pm

About Zaida Adriana Goveo Balmaseda
Zaida Adriana Goveo Balmaseda is a fiber artist whose work serves as a hands-on
manifesto of the symbiotic relationship we can have with our surroundings. She makes
slowly and mindfully, using local/organic fibers, recycled or found materials, and natural
dyes. These materials are transformed through traditional craft techniques she
respectfully re-contextualizes. Her practice weaves together fiber-art, soft sculpture,
material rescue, and contemplative performance.

Zaida Adriana advocates the slow, ethical and hand-made through talks and workshops
at places like Duduá, Manufacture NY, Slow Fashion Spain/Ethical Fashion Academy,
Eileen Fisher, Bloomingdales, and the Brooklyn Museum of Art. She serves as the
Country Coordinator of the Fashion Revolution movement in Puerto Rico.

As recipient of the Lexus Grant for Artists, she is currently exhibiting a large installation
inspired by Sol lace at the Museum of Art of Puerto Rico, and is an Artist in Residence
at Beta-Local’s La Práctica. During the month of April, she is visiting NY and taking part
in the Textile Arts Center’s Work In Progress Residency.



Ecological City

ECOLOGICAL CITY PROCESSION

SATURDAY MAY 12, 2018 (rain date May 13)

#DANCERS, #MODELS, #ARTISTS, #PERFORMERS, #BODYPAINTERS #PUPPETEERS #ACTIVISTS #PHOTOGRAPHERS #VOLUNTEERS

PLEASE SHARE and invite friends to join and VOLUNTEER FOR #ECOLOGICALCITY – this is not a parade to watch but a transformational experience – become a garden, river and climate solution spirit – help as a marshal- many roles. Experience the ECOLOGICAL URBAN PILGRIMAGE FROM THE GARDENS TO THE RIVER on the LES of NYC – not to be missed!

ECOLOGICAL CITY, a climate action, ecological urban pilgrimage and performance art event – features a spectacular 6 hour procession featuring visual art, giant puppets and costumes with 20 site performances of dance, music, theater and poetry celebrating sustainability solutions throughout the community gardens, neighborhood and East River Park waterfront on the Lower East Side of New York City.

VOLUNTEER: Sign up to wear spectacular costumes – direct puppets – marshal procession

NEEDED: MAKE-UP/BODY PAINTERS, ARTISTS, DANCERS, PERFORMERS & PHOTOGRAPHERS

SIGN UP FOR A ROLE – CONTACT:
FB Message: https://www.facebook.com/EarthCelebrations/

EMAIL: mail@earthcelebrations.com

SIGN UP: http://earthcelebrations.com/volunteer-ecological-city-sign/
MORE INFO: http://earthcelebrations.com/ecological-city-project/

FB EVENT SHARE: https://www.facebook.com/events/856985337794345/

Earth Celebrations’ ECOLOGICAL CITY in partnership with Loisaida Center Inc., LUNGS-Loisaida United Neighborhood Gardens and over 50 partner organizations and groups including NYC Community Garden District, Green Map, GOLES (Good Old Lower East Side-Housing/Resiliency), LES Ready!, Lower East Side Girls Club, Lower East Side Ecology, East Village Community Coalition, East River Park Coalition, Solar One, Waterfront Alliance, University Settlement, Earth School (PS364), Sixth Street Community Center, Arts Loisaida, MOS Collective, Gaia Institute, East 4th Street Block Association, Times Up, Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space, FAB (Fourth Street Arts Block Association), Theatre for the New City, Hunter College-School of Community Organizing and New York University. Numerous groups and residents throughout the neighborhood are invited to join.


This program is made possible with support from Fund for the City of New York, New York Community Trust, Con Edison, Howard Bayne Fund, private foundations, individuals and
 Creative Engagement / Creative Learning, supported by the New York CityDepartment of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and administered by Lower Manhattan Cultural Council

Textiles Yarn Workshop

Description
Learn how to recycle fabrics and clothing into a fun material that can be used for
knitting, weaving, crocheting and many other crafts.

Details
Workshop Duration: 1-2 hours
Cost: FREE
Languages: English and Spanish
Level: No previous knowledge required
Dates: April 19th, 2018 at 6:00 pm

For participants to bring:
• Unused fabrics, Old/Stained T-shirts and/or clothing that you are willing to let go of/cut
up and transform

About Zaida Adriana Goveo Balmaseda
Zaida Adriana Goveo Balmaseda is a fiber artist whose work serves as a hands-on
manifesto of the symbiotic relationship we can have with our surroundings. She makes
slowly and mindfully, using local/organic fibers, recycled or found materials, and natural
dyes. These materials are transformed through traditional craft techniques she
respectfully re-contextualizes. Her practice weaves together fiber-art, soft sculpture, material rescue, and
contemplative performance. Zaida Adriana advocates the slow, ethical and hand-made through talks and workshops
at places like Duduá, Manufacture NY, Slow Fashion Spain/Ethical Fashion Academy,
Eileen Fisher, Bloomingdales, and the Brooklyn Museum of Art. She serves as the
Country Coordinator of the Fashion Revolution movement in Puerto Rico.

Ecological Arts/Puppet and Costume Workshops


Sign up for Puppet Workshops below:


Sign up for Costume Workshops below:

ECOLOGICAL CITY-ENGAGEMENT/PLANNING MEETINGS

Next Meeting: Wednesday November, 15
When: 6:30-8:00 pm
Where: Loisaida Center – 710 East 9th Street (between Avenue C & D)

OPEN CALL – ARTISTS
Visual Artists, Dancers, Performers, Musicians & Poets
present and collaborate with community creating artistic works exploring climate resiliency, water and ecological sustainability
Please send links to past or current and proposed works related to ecological sustainability themes to mail@earthcelebrations.com (Subject Line – “OPEN CALL – ECOLOGICAL CITY” ) by November 15, 2017.

Merengue Prieto New York 2017

Loisaida Inc. Center and Afro-Inspira presents:

Merengue Prieto New York 2017

Marily Gallardo, choreographer/artivist and founder of Kalalú Danza Artes Escénicas, has come from Dominican Republic to share with us her work and provide a master dance class, interactive talk and healing circle. All funds are to support Kalalú Danza Project in keep moving forward their mission and work in Los Mercedes, Dominican Republic.

You are coordially invited to:

MASTER DANCE CLASS: Merengue Prieto / rhythm dance session – traveling steps with TAMBORA. Incorporate another perspective that focuses on the origins of popular tradition and its makers through the execution of poly rhythmic-gestural patterns and to enjoy “merengue” afro. 
INTERACTIVE TALK: “Mujeres de la Candela” (Women of the Fire) / pedagogical experience on identity and black women power such as how women power and values are transmitted within the afro-descendant communities, like courage, daily intelligence, and spiritual beliefs, etc.

HEALING RITUAL: Creative full moon circle.

Class starts prompltly at 5pm followed by talk and healing circle.
Suggested Donation: $25
This event is FREE, no one will be turned away for lack of funds. Please bring comfortable clothes and shoes.


Eventbrite -  Merengue Prieto - Master Class

_____________________________________________________________________
Mission:

Kalalú Danza, Dominican Republic
For Kalalú Danza, the Afro-antillian concept is presented as one that encompasses and is a synthesis of thought and expression of the socio-cultural diversity of the Caribbean. From that premise, Kalalú’s pedagogical approach affirms a particular study of rhythm and movement, of its oral tradition, and symbolism which influenced by “the Afro” can be found in the popular artistic manifestations of such cultures. Such artistic manifestations provides the basis to generate performance, scenic, and pedagogical proposals which contributes to the development of the local communities as well as the individual and social transformation.

Garbagia Universe

Concept:

Building on last year’s successful Garbagia Island, Loisaida Inc. Center will expand this summer into Garbagia Universe. Acting on the continued need to build public historical awareness of cultural immigrant history, and consistent with Loisaida’s commitment to urban place keeping, the project refashions cultural practices of Downtown Latino/a/xs from Carmen Pabón, Jorge Brandon, Bimbo Rivas, Pedro Pietri, Petra Santiago and beyond, to contemporary realities. This second cycle will expand to include and explore the pedagogy and practice of the Latin American modernist, Joaquín Torres García, who lived in New York’s Downtown, and who was the subject of investigation of one of our artist-in-residence, and teaching artists for this cycle, Juan Bautista Climent.

This version will offer three component workshops where participants can hone their skills and realize their final products in a performative exposition. These include sewing and costume making, sculptural and conceptual art, and performance production, over the span of three weeks in August and September.

Description:

1st week: Sewing and Textiles Workshop by Daniela Fabrizi

In this first week, after finding an object and having an introductory inspirational meeting about the universe with images and references, we will be building a specialty costume. Together we will create a more universal idea of what fabric means. We will be looking on how to make fabric from “junk”, while learning basic techniques on sewing and alterations, crafting textile patterns and building this piece that will keep developing on the second stage of the project, adding sculptural pieces, all this while reflecting and developing a character for its 3rd week stage. The garment will be the final product of each participant artist, and will be presented as part of the Fashion Show the day of the event.

While creating this costume we will work on creative stimulation, repurpose of materials that can become/are also fabric, and with invited artist Sonia Peña we will have 1 to 2 hours workshops each day to learn mending and alterations, not only this will help to the development of their costume but while creating it they will learn basics but practical and useful techniques for everyday life.

Workshops will include:
Alterations/Mending: From buttons, zippers, hems to decorative hand stitches.
Patterns and Sewing: Basic machine sewing, introduction and reading of a pattern.
Textile Design: Lets make textiles and design patterns creating consciousness about color, composition and mix media. This will be where we explore with different materials, ways of mixing color and texture while learning the ideal tools to use.
Character Development: Out of all of this aspects, we will start an exploration of the first stages of a character, using the costume as a tool to understand and give information about these creature through color, texture and shape. The idea is to give the first step into what will be an ongoing work until Performance Workshop Week where it will be finally worked in
detail and developed.

2nd week: Sculpture Workshop by Juan Bautista Climent

This workshop will focus on the development of sculptural elements that add visual force and meaning to the garments made in the first Garbagia Universe workshop provided, they are made mostly of recycled materials.

Day 1: Universal Symbols and Drawing
We will study traditional clothing from different indigenous cultures in Latin America, Africa, and Asia, containing symbols of the universe (such as the Sun, Mother Earth, Planets, Stars, etc.). We will have a brief review of the ideas of universal symbols of Joaquín Torres García, previously learned in Loisaida Center during the Constructivism Month in July. With these visual and theoretical sources as inspiration, participants should sketch their own sculptural designs, contemplating that they will be designed with recycled materials.

Day 2: Objects in our neighborhood are objects in the Universe
Participants will be challenged to find at least one object that has been discarded within the Lower East Side area, which they consider to be of visual or conceptual value, or which may have this value with appropriate interventions with other artistic materials. Participants will learn the basic techniques of paper mache to combine it with recycled objects.

Day 3: Time to Work
Development of Sculpture, recycled materials and paper mache.

Day 4: Color as forms in the Universe
This day, participants will learn basic concepts of color, but understanding it as tone and form, as taught in the constructivist doctrine of Joaquín Torres García.

Day 5: Final Details
Completion of sculptures. The participants will add the pieces made to their clothes.

3rd week: Performance Workshop by Zuleyka Alejandro & final presentation.

During the last week of Garbagia Universe Program the participants will have the opportunity todevelop their character in a collaborative manner. Performance, body movement and character workshops will be held in order to develop the Performance for the event. After creating their fabric and sculptural pieces during the first weeks of the Project, it will be a time to put it in action the creations.

Outcome:

Participants developed a socio-political approach and learned about crucial contributors to the history of the LES through active participation. Directed with a pedagogical perspective into recreating what important key people (yet invisible to the mainstream narrative) did for our neighborhood. This created awareness into reusing waste and reconstructing its concept into resource. Also pointing out the use of communal spaces for the benefit of the community.

We empowered participants to be active in their communities. The art workshops are beneficial for trans-generational bonding, mental health, motor skills and cognitive development in younger participants. Infusing the creative act with social contemporary issues at stake in the neighborhood and the larger world of many residents, creates empathy, conviviality and a sense of urgency to make a difference.

Garbagia Universe Show pictures (check back soon):

Press release:
(In progress) Garbagia Universe Show
Sept. 9th, 2017 – 6:00 pm at La Plaza Cultural de Armando Pérez Community Garden.

NEW YORK, NY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2017 – Tbd.

Pedagogical Benefits:

Participants developed a socio-political approach and learned about crucial contributors to the history of the LES through active participation. Directed with a pedagogical perspective into recreating what important key people (yet invisible to the mainstream narrative) did for our neighborhood. This created awareness into reusing waste and reconstructing its concept into resource. Also pointing out the use of communal spaces for the benefit of the community.

We empowered participants to be active in their communities. The art workshops are beneficial for trans-generational bonding, mental health, motor skills and cognitive development in younger participants. Infusing the creative act with social contemporary issues at stake in the neighborhood and the larger world of many residents, creates empathy, conviviality and a sense of urgency to make a difference.

Garbagia Island 2016 original trailer:



Loisaida’s Summer Program is made in collaboration with La Plaza Cultural and with your support, thank you.

Constructivist Month

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 29Comments 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)