Curated by Carl Hancock Rux
Juneteenth
Three-part series in collaboration with Harlem Stage, Park Avenue Armory, and Lincoln Center featuring selections of writing from Rux
Join us for three free events that honor and celebrate Juneteenth and examine the idea of freedom itself.
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Thursday, June 16 at 7:00 pm - FREE
JUNETEENTH: EXAMINED
A Panel Discussion Led by Carl Hancock Rux
At Harlem Stage
Harlem Stage Associate Artistic Director and Curator-in-Residence Carl Hancock Rux moderates a panel discussion featuring journalist, New York Times columnist, MSNBC political analyst, and best-selling author, Charles Blow, award-winning producer, director, and scholar Dr. Indira Etwaroo, and award-winning author, curator, and critic Tavia Nyong’o. The panel will discuss some of the myths of the Emancipation Proclamation and the truth of modern-day slavery, examining Juneteenth and emancipation, and its history—past, present, and future.
Click here to learn more and get tickets
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Sunday, June 19 at 3:00 pm – FREE
Archer Aymes Retrospective: A Juneteenth Exhibition
At Park Avenue Armory
Explore the legacy of emancipation through an immersive art installation curated by Carl Hancock Rux with Tavia Nyong’o and Dianne Smith of newly discovered works by Archer Aymes, the elusive subject of Rux’s Obie-award winning play Talk, which had its premiere at the Joseph Papp Public Theater. The retrospective includes a light and sound installation that reconstructs Aymes’ experimental film Mother and Son—based on his novel of the same name and cultural artifacts that may have helped Aymes construct its story. Also on display is an accompanying altar of lost and found objects from an impossible archive of images, objects, and sounds Aymes collected in his attempt to explore the never-ending racial injustice that continues to shape the lives of its victims into the 21st century.
The event also features a concert performance by mezzo-soprano Alicia Hall Moran and pianist Aaron Diehl from the operatic repertoire of Puccini, Weill, and Bernstein that touches upon various themes, from Aymes’ rumored closeness to Nina Simone to the desolation of family separation.
Click here to learn more and get tickets
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Sunday, June 19 at 7:00 pm - FREE
I Dream a Dream That Dreams Back at Me: A Juneteenth Celebration
The culminating event takes place during the evening of June 19, with I Dream a Dream That Dreams Back at Me: A Juneteenth Celebration, curated and directed by Carl. The site-specific evening long event unfolds across Lincoln Center, drawing inspiration from the narratives of enslaved people seeking and finding freedom—from Harriet Tubman to today—and reckoning with the question of whether true freedom has ever fully been achieved. The multipart event includes artists such as Nona Hendryx, Étienne Lashley and The Collective, and Vernon Reid, performing original music including a song by Gordon Chambers and the "Combahee" song, with lyrics by Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Lynn Nottage. The performers wear original paper dress creations by interdisciplinary artist Dianne Smith. The event concludes with a concert by Grammy winner Cedric Burnside, followed by a Silent Disco Dance Party from DJ Belinda Becker, honoring contributions of Black Americans to modern music.
The events are part of Festival of New York.
