Quintet combines music and art

by: Roberto Rodriquez African/Caribbean/American music, Rodriguez, composer/percussionist and one of today’s most versatile performers and intriguing composers, brings his Mulato Insurgency Quintet including Roberto (drums), Igor Arias (congos, vocals), Matt Munisteri (banjo), Bernie Minoso (bass), and Andy Ezrin (organs) to the Puffin to perform selections from his multi-media work-in-progress “Manos Piadosas/Devout Hands.” Set to poetry …

African masks on show in New York

by: Yaella Biro Our first stop is New York where the Metropolitan Museum of Art is the new home for creative re-imaginings of the African mask. The exhibition, “Reconfiguring the African Icon: Odes to the mask by Modern and Contemporary Artists from Three Continents,” is a collaboration between the Museum’s departments of Nineteenth-Century, Modern, and …

Series and Sequences: Romare Bearden, Stuart Davis, Robert De Niro, Sr., Nathan Oliveira

by: DC Moore DC Moore’s new exhibition, Series and Sequences, explores the idea of variations on a theme in the work of four twentieth-century artists who used related imagery or returned to similar imagery over time. Through a select group of paintings and drawings, the exhibit reveals some of the many ways in which artists …

Conference focuses on ‘The Art of Public Memory’ April 7-10

By Steve Gilliam GREENSBORO, N.C. –“The Art of Public Memory,” an international conference that will explore interactions between the arts, memory and history, will be held at UNCG, Thursday through Sunday, April 7-10. “The conference will focus on the ways that the arts participate in the creation and rethinking of public, or collective, memory,” said …

Cerritos College B.S.U. Celebrates Black History Through Art

By Michael Brown More than 150 people didn’t let the pouring rain put a damper on an evening to celebrate the “Black Expressions through Art” program, sponsored by the Cerritos College Black Student Union as part of its commemoration of Black History Month. The Feb. 25 event, held in the campus’ Student Center, featured dozens …

Dennis W. Spears Leads Penumbra Theatre’s I WISH YOU LOVE

Penumbra Theatre Company, the nation’s preeminent African American theatre, announces the casting of I Wish You Love, by Dominic Taylor, directed by Lou Bellamy. The production features Dennis W. Spears as Nat “King” Cole, singing over 20 of Mr. Cole‘s beloved songs. This world premiere opens on the Penumbra stage April 21, 2011; Previews April …

Burlington native hangs her art in Manhattan studio

Artist Margaret Bowland described it as “a funeral where you get to be alive.” It was the day after Bowland’s art opening at Babcock Galleries and the Burlington native was elated — not only was her artwork was on display at this prestigious gallery in midtown Manhattan — but friends and family were in attendance …

Art exhibit commemorates attack on Freedom Riders

One of the most violent moments of the civil rights era occurred in Montgomery 50 years ago and today Alaba­ma State University is un­veiling a series of artistic de­pictions of what happened on May 20, 1961. On that day, civil rights ac­tivists dubbed “Freedom Riders,” were attacked at Montgomery’s Greyhound Bus Station where angry whites …

Vacaville Museum’s ‘AFRICA!’ exhibit ends March 27

The Vacaville Museum exhibit “AFRICA! We Connect” ends March 27, when museum staff will begin to prepare for a new, significant traveling show, “African American History: From the Collection of Bernard and Shirley Kinsey.” It opens May 13. “AFRICA!” curator Lisa Rico said her first visit to the so-called “mother continent” opened her eyes and …

AMERICAN HISTORY OF THE BLACK DISABLED IN SPORTS

by Gary Norris Gray CALIFORNIA–Inland African countries like Northern Benin, Niger, Western Nigeria, Ivory Coast, and Western Chad, treated their disabled children like kings and queens. It was a sign from the Gods that these individuals were special and that they should be given respect. African communities thought the heavens, the Gods, blessed them with …

Art and Technology Meet Anthropology in a Show Called Passage

by: Max Eternity “Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it” is an oft-recited quote attributed to George Satayana — philosopher, poet, essayist and novelist. It’s a somewhat cliché statement that nevertheless clearly recognizes the importance of historical erudition. As it is self-evident that there are many things, especially war, colonization, …

Oakland Street Art Gets Historical Treatment

By ERIC K. ARNOLD The culture of street art “is about reclaiming our visual space … in the name of freedom and expression.” So says local visual-art legend Refa One, co-founder of the Bay Area Aerosol Heritage Society, while leading a gallery tour of what he calls style writing, graf or aerosol art — and …

Do black people really know their ‘Uncle Tom’?

By Dexter Mullins (ThyBlackMan.com) Short of dropping the n-bomb on someone, there are few things more insulting to many African-Americans than being called an “Uncle Tom.” The term originates from the character in Harriett Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin which was published in 1852. And ever since the term has stirred emotions and sparked controversy …