The New Solidarity: Art, Organizing & Radical Politics

Friday 9 July + Saturday 10 July • All events are free and online • Register here
 

Friday 9 July at 12 a.m. through 11:59 p.m. Saturday 10 July EDT

A special screening of Milo Rau’s The New Gospel • Register here
Available for viewing at any time in these 48 hours

Since 2007, Milo Rau has been weaving aesthetics with political activism in the theatre and films he’s made with his company, The International Institute of Political Murder. In 2018, Rau also became the artistic director of NTGent in Belgium, whose mission and programs have since been animated by a radical new manifesto for the theatre.

The New Gospel is a 21st century retelling of the Passion of Christ. Inspired by the 1964 "Jesus film" of Pier Paolo Pasolini, The New Gospel was filmed in the ancient Italian city of Matera. In Rau’s film—part movie, part documentary, part political campaign—Jesus is played by Cameroonian political activist Yvan Sagnet (recently knighted in Italy for his work with migrants). The film follows Sagnet’s Jesus as he spearheads a Revolt of Dignity, a grassroots movement of migrant workers, many of whom are African refugees, in Italy and beyond. Read more about the film and the ongoing movement at “A Director Asks, Would Jesus Stand With Today’s Migrants?” (The New York Times).

“[in The New Gospel] we don’t just get the last supper and the biblical quotes, we also see the auditions, the rehearsals and the material on either side of each take. It’s about what it means to tell the story as much as it is about the story itself.” - The Guardian

Friday 9 July: How are artists seizing power today?

1 p.m. - 3 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 3 p.m. - 5 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 4 p.m. - 6 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) • Register here

A conversation with: Milo Rau, Luis Alfaro, Marc Bamuthi Joseph/The Kennedy Center, Alec Duffy/JACK, Emily Johnson, and moderator David Bruin.

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the murder of George Floyd catalyzed a number of movements, many of them led by artists, aimed at reshaping every aspect of the way theater and performance are produced: We See You White American Theatre, Amplifying Activism, and Anticapitalism for Artists, to name just a few of the many initiatives that are committed to centering justice, sustainability, and solidarity on the stage, in the studio, and beyond. Inspired by these movements, and in dialogue with The New Gospel, this conversation brings together some of the most inspiring theater and performance makers working to change the industries—and the world—in which they work.

Saturday 10 July: How are artists and organizers building solidarity between art and movements?

1 p.m. - 3 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 3 p.m. - 5 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 4 p.m. - 6 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) • Register here

A Conversation with: Milo Rau + Yvan Sagnet, Dread Scott, Toshi Reagon, Carlton Turner/Sipp Culture, Kristina Wong, and moderator Virginia Grise.

Over this past year, there’s been a significant increase in the numbers of artists and theatres participating in local and national social justice campaigns. While this is inspiring, it also offers the opportunity to look at the historical challenges of and the future aspirations for relationships between art, its institutions, and social justice movements. What do sustainable relationships look like? How does artistic expression become part of movements in new and provocative ways? How do we engage and share radical imagination? And how do we consider art and artists in the ecology of changing the world? The New Gospel holds some of these inquires, as does the visionary work of the artists and organizers assembled for this conversation.

Event Producers: Melanie Joseph and David Bruin

The New Solidarity will be livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Friday 9 July and Saturday 10 July 2021.

The New Solidarity is being co-hosted by a number of artists, institutions, and grassroots organizations across the country, including:
New York City: Anticapitalism for Artists, Arts & Democracy, The Foundry Theatre, Mabou Mines, Ma-Yi Theater, New York Theatre Workshop, Radical Evolution, The Segal Center @ The Graduate Center/CUNY
Los Angeles: UCLA’s Center for the Art of Performance
Detroit: A Host of People
Utica, MS: Sipp Culture
Dallas: Ignite/Arts Dallas at SMU Meadows School of the Arts
San Antonio: A Todo Dar Productions
Austin: Rude Mechs
Oakland: Roberto Bedoya/Oakland Cultural Affairs
Boston: HowlRound

About HowlRound TV
HowlRound TV is a global, commons-based peer produced, open access livestreaming and video archive project stewarded by the nonprofit HowlRound. HowlRound TV is a free and shared resource for live conversations and performances relevant to the world's performing arts and cultural fields. Its mission is to break geographic isolation, promote resource sharing, and to develop our knowledge commons collectively. Participate in a community of peer organizations revolutionizing the flow of information, knowledge, and access in our field by becoming a producer and co-producing with us. Learn more by going to our participate page. For any other queries, email [email protected], or call Vijay Mathew at +1 917.686.3185 Signal/WhatsApp. View the video archive of past events.