PERFORMA INSTITUTE PRESENTS GET READY FOR THE MARVELOUS: BLACK SURREALISM IN DAKAR, FORT-DE-FRANCE, HAVANA, JOHANNESBURG, NEW YORK CITY, PARIS, PORT-AU-PRINCE, 1932-2013 Conference Friday, February 8th, 1:00-5:30 p.m. Saturday, February 9th, 1:00-5:30 p.m. Special Morning Film Program Saturday, February 9th, 10:00 a.m. - Noon NYU Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development Einstein Auditorium, Barney Building, 34 Stuyvesant Street [map] Free adminission with reservations, email RSVP@performa-arts.org Indicate the dates you will attend with your reservation. Seating is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis. CONFERENCE SCHEDULE Friday, February 8th   1:00 – 2:00 p.m.  Welcome   RoseLee Goldberg Founding Director and Curator Performa Blues People and the Poetic Spirit: Recovering Surrealism's Revolutionary Politics Keynote Address Robin D.G. Kelley Gary B. Nash Professor of American History University of California Los Angeles  2:00 – 2:30 p.m. Performance Honoring Adrienne Kennedy Adam Pendleton Artist 2:30 – 3:00 p.m. Break 3:00 – 4:30 p.m Black Surrealist Beginnings: Dance, Theater, and Visual Art Awam Ampka Associate Professor of Drama, Tisch School of the Arts andDirector of Africana Studies New York University Barbara Browning Associate Professor, Performance Studies New York University Lowery Stokes Sims Curator Museum of Art and Design RoseLee Goldberg Moderator 4:30 – 5:30 p.m. Divine Horsemen: The Living Gods of Haiti (1985) Directed by Maya Deren, Cherel Ito, and Teiji Ito, 52 minutes  A documentary film about dance and possession in Haitian Vodoun compiled from footage Maya Deren (1917 -1961) shot during her fieldwork on the island between 1947 and 1954, and posthumously completed by Cherel and Teiji Ito. Saturday, February 9th   10:00 a.m. – Noon Morning Film Program                                The First World Festival of Negro Arts (1967)                                     Directed by William Greaves, 40 minutes The official documentary film of the 1966 festival held in Dakar, Senegal, which over 2,000 writers, artists, and performers from throughout the African Diaspora attended, including Duke Ellington, Langston Hughes, Alvin Ailey, Léopold Sédar Senghor, and Aimé Césaire, and other artists, performers, and dignitaries from 30 countries.   Zétwal (2008) Directed by Gilles Elie-dit-Cosaque, 52 minutes A documentary film that tells the story of local Martinican legend Robert Saint‐Rose’s attempt to propel himself to outer space, through the poetry of Aimé Césaire. 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. Dream, Collage, Lightning: Dark Future for Surrealism Tavia Nyong’o Associate Professor, Performance Studies New York University          2:00 – 2:45 p.m. Portrait of the Artist: Wangechi Mutu Isolde Brielmaier Chief Curator Savannah College of Art and Design Adrienne Edwards Associate Curator, Performa Institute Ph.D. Candidate, Performance Studies New York University 2:45 – 3:15 p.m. The Blood of a Poet: Poetry, Cinema, and Sampling Paul D. Miller a.k.a. D.J. Spooky and Melvin Van Peebles A Conversation Sampling Jean Cocteau, Duke Ellington, and Fats Waller 3:15 – 3:45 p.m. Break 3:45 – 5:30 p.m. Black Surrealism Now Simone Leigh Artist Gabi Ngcobo Curator and Founder Center for Historical Reenactments, Johannesburg Adam Pendleton Artist Greg Tate Visiting Professor, Africana Studies Brown University Musician, Black Rock Coalition and Burnt Sugar The Arkestra Chamber Cultural Critic Isolde Brielmaier Moderator Closing Remarks RoseLee Goldberg  Get Ready for the Marvelous is organized by Adrienne Edwards, Associate Curator, Performa Institute and Ph.D. Candidate, Performance Studies, New York University. Images: Left:  Journal cover of Légitime Défense (Self-Defense) (1932). Right: Adam Pendleton (American, b. 1984) with Jaan Evart (Estonian, born 1981), Marc Hollenstein (Swiss, b. 1980). Black Dada (Ian Berry, couple dancing, independence celebration Congo, 1960) (2008/2012). Courtesy the artist, Pace Gallery, and Shane Campbell Gallery. ABOUT THE PERFORMA INSTITUTE The Performa Institute is a year-round think tank that fosters learning, critical discourse, and deeper engagement in performance by directly supporting its scholarly investigation. The Performa Institute showcases a range of in-depth programs for the presentation and exploration of ideas and the exchange of research and knowledge, with a focus on the study of history and on forging a new intellectual culture surrounding contemporary art. It asks artists, curators, writers, and scholars to function as educators across disciplines to explore innovative visions for the future of art and ideas in New York City and around the world. The Performa Institute was launched on the occasion of the Performa 11 biennial (2011), during which it presented over 50 artist-led classes and workshops. The Performa Institute is made possible thanks to support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Lambent Foundation for Tides Foundation, Ford Foundation, New York State Council on the Arts, and the NYU Steinhardt Department of Art and Art Professions. ABOUT PERFORMA Founded in 2004 by art historian and curator RoseLee Goldberg, Performa is the leading international organization dedicated to exploring the critical role of live visual art performance in the history of the twentieth century and to generating new directions for the twenty-first century, engaging artists and audiences through experimentation, innovation and collaboration. Performa’s unique commissioning, touring, and year-round education programs, involving all disciplines, forge a new course for contemporary art and culture and culminate in the Performa biennial every other November. In 2005, Performa launched the first-ever biennial dedicated to visual art performance, Performa 05, which was then followed by Performa 07 (2007), Performa 09 (2009), and Performa 11 (2011). Performa will present its fifth biennial, Performa 13, November 1-24, 2013. STAY CONNECTED Performa's Website Performa Magazine Become a Fan on Facebook Follow us on Twitter GET INVOLVED Donate Now