Événement

And, Ain't I a Woman: A Long Table Conversation and Installation

As New York state celebrates 100 years of womens suffrage, "At the Crossroads: Activating the Intersection of Art and Justice" announces its second event of the 2017-2018 season, "And, Aint I a Woman: A Long Table Conversation and Installation," inspired by the fierce legacy of Sojourner Truth.

Sojourner Truth was born a slave in New York in 1797, twenty-one years after women lost the right to vote in the state in 1776. She was to become an outspoken advocate for abolition as well as civil and womens rights.

More than a century before Kimberlé Crenshaw introduced the concept of intersectionality to feminist theory in the 1980s, Sojourner Truth challenged sexist + racist notions with her extemporaneous "And, Aint I a Woman" speech in 1851 at the National Womens Convention in Akron, Ohio.

This important interrogation is inspired by Truth and other bad ass women of color's legacies; an art installation created by Amanda Chestnut; a spoken word performance by Reenah Golden and Tokeya Graham; and the interaction with fellow participants and other attendees.

The initial Long Table Conversation participants include Mara Ahmed, Jazzelle Bonilla, Erica Bryant, Amanda Chestnut, Rachel DeGuzman, N'Jelle Gage-Thorne, Reenah Golden, Tokeya Graham, Tianna Mañón, Deborah McDell-Hernandez, Annette Ramos, and Gaynelle Wethers.

What is a Long Table Conversation?

The Long Table is an experimental open public forum that is a hybrid performance-installation-roundtable designed to facilitate dialogue through the gathering together of people with common interests developed by the artist and academic Lois Weaver.

This is a performance of dinner table conversation where everyone seated at the table is a guest performer. Talk is the only course (though wine, coffee/tea, cheese, fruit and desserts will be served before the conversation begins). There is no moderator just assistance from the host. It is a democracy. After the invited participants have chatted for 30- minutes, other attendees can tap someones shoulder to take a seat at the table. Participants are welcomed back to the conversation through the same process. There is an end, but no conclusion.

Event producer Rachel DeGuzman helped curate a Long Table Conversation in fall 2016 for the CLAGS After Marriage Conference at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, when she was executive director of Kyoung's Pacific Beat - a peace-making theater company based in Brooklyn, New York.