The New Museum announces its summer 2018 season of public programming. Highlights of the season include discussions related to the exhibitions John Akomfrah: Signs of Empire, Thomas Bayrle: Playtime, and Aaron Fowler: Bigger Than Me; programs organized in conjunction with the New Museum’s annual art and social justice residency and exhibition The Black School x Kameelah Janan Rasheed; and Rhizome’s Seven on Seven conference.
All programs take place at the New Museum unless otherwise noted.
Seven on Seven 2018
Saturday, May 19, 12–6pm
Rhizome and the New Museum present Seven on Seven, the flagship art-meets-tech event that pairs seven leading artists with seven visionary technologists and asks them to “make something”: an artwork, a prototype, a provocation—whatever they imagine.
Library Hours in the Resource Room with Kameelah Janan Rasheed
Thursday, May 31, August 23, and September 6, 7–8:30pm
Saturday, June 23 and July 21, 3–5pm
Educator and artist-in-residence Kameelah Janan Rasheed shares materials from her personal archival collection of printed matter. Held in conjunction with The Black School x Kameelah Janan Rasheed.
Publishing Center
Thursdays, June 7–July 12 (excluding July 5), 6:30–8:30pm
This free series, taught by Rasheed, restages the publishing center from her elementary school to focus on black traditions of self-publishing, literacy, and independent schools. Held in conjunction with The Black School x Kameelah Janan Rasheed.
Lex Brown and Aaron Fowler: C.E.
Saturday, June 9, 4pm
In conjunction with Aaron Fowler’s Storefront Window installation Bigger Than Me, Fowler and fellow artist Lex Brown will present their new collaborative performance C.E. (2018), which builds on the sci-fi worlds of Brown’s interdisciplinary practice and Fowler’s approach to personal narrative.
Family Meals: Sharing Histories
Wednesday, June 13, 7pm
Inspired by the generative learning that occurs during meals in domestic and community settings, Rasheed invites artists, organizers, community members, and educators to two potluck dinners to consider the histories and futures of independent black schools. Rasheed will introduce this meal with excerpts from the documentary Dreams of a City: Creating East Palo Alto (dir. Michael Levin, 1997), focusing on the history of Nairobi College, a community-created college and day school founded in her hometown of East Palo Alto. Held in conjunction with The Black School x Kameelah Janan Rasheed.
Thomas Bayrle in Conversation with Massimiliano Gioni
John Akomfrah in Conversation with Gary Carrion-Murayari
Wednesday, June 20, 6:30pm & 7:30pm
The New Museum will host two conversations between Thomas Bayrle and Massimiliano Gioni, Edlis Neeson Artistic Director, and John Akomfrah and Gary Carrion-Murayari, Kraus Family Curator, on the occasion of Thomas Bayrle: Playtime, Bayrle’s first major New York museum survey, and John Akomfrah: Signs of Empire, Akomfrah’s first American survey exhibition.
Mass Appeals: Thomas Bayrle’s Objects of Desire
Saturday, June 23, 3pm
This panel discussion—including speakers Christine Mehring, Sarah Nicole Prickett, and moderator Bettina Funcke—will consider Bayrle’s long-standing inquiry into the relationship between mass media, political spectacle, and consumerism. Held in conjunction with Thomas Bayrle: Playtime.
Collective Imaginings: Legacies of the Black Audio Film Collective
Thursday, July 12, 7pm
This panel discussion—with Coco Fusco, Tobi Haslett, Kara Keeling, and moderator Ashley Clark—will explore the importance of returning to Black Audio Film Collective’s work in our current political and cultural moment. Held in conjunction with John Akomfrah: Signs of Empire.
Drop-In Sessions with the Teen Apprentice Program
Fridays, July 13–August 17, 3pm
First-come, first-served workshops will be led by the Teen Apprentice Program. Teens will facilitate an art-making project for visitors and guide their use of The Black School Process Cards, a deck that generates artist-activist tactics to respond to community needs. Held in conjunction with The Black School x Kameelah Janan Rasheed.
Social Fabric: Thomas Bayrle’s Expanded Network
Thursday July 19, 7pm
Bringing together a new generation of artists interested in Thomas Bayrle’s legacy—including Lena Henke and Jordan Wolfson, with moderator Alex Kitnick—this panel, in conjunction with Thomas Bayrle: Playtime, will explore how they take up questions around corporate production, political spectacle, digital technology, and urban planning in their work.
Space for Learning: Within and Beyond Walls
Thursday, July 26, 7pm
Architect and historian Mabel O. Wilson joins the Black School and Rasheed for a panel discussion considering the role of visual culture, art, and architecture in the creation of spaces that center black teachers, learners, and knowledge. Held in conjunction with The Black School x Kameelah Janan Rasheed.
Black Love Committee
Saturday, July 28, 11am-1pm: Utopia, at Sugar Hill Children’s Museum of Art & Storytelling
Saturday, August 4, 11am-1pm: Spectacle, at New Museum
Saturday, August 11, 11am-1pm: Action, at New Museum
Sunday, August 19, all day: Enactment, at Black Love Fest NYC 2018, at Sugar Hill Children’s Museum of Art & Storytelling
The Black School will lead a series of three free tactic-specific sessions on arts activism for an intergenerational audience, culminating in a presentation at Black Love Fest NYC at the Sugar Hill Children’s Museum of Art & Storytelling. Held in conjunction with The Black School x Kameelah Janan Rasheed.
Family Meals: Sharing Futures
Wednesday, September 12, 7pm
Conversation at this meal will focus on responding to questions that have arisen over the course of the exhibition and residency The Black School x Kameelah Janan Rasheed.
Off-Site Event:
Symposium: Experiments in Art & Technology: 1960s & Today
Saturday, May 12, 10am–6pm at Mana Contemporary
Organized on the occasion of the exhibition Only Human, presented by NEW INC and Nokia Bell Labs at Mana Contemporary, this daylong symposium will delve into some of the ideas, themes, and technological research explored in the works on view by artists Sougwen Chung, Lisa Park, and Hammerstep.