THURSDAY, APRIL 25
Day two of the BRIC OPEN continues with additional performances of Phillip Howze’s play Self Portraits, storytelling with The Innocence Project, Macon Reed’s A Pressing Conference, a postcard writing session, and more! Click here to learn more about the artists, panelists, and other participants.
12PM
Self Portraits
By Phillip Howze
Directed by Stevie Walker-Webb
A man on a mountaintop confronts the fear of his own mortality. A mother instructs her son to be more careful walking the streets. A video shares a terrifying truth. Self Portraits is a site-driven theatrical event made up of intimate, experiential moments. This inventive new play reframes the political as personal to reflect on the unpredictable state of the Black body in America. Suspended at the edge of confrontation and contemplation, beauty and brutality, together these theatrical portraits share an expansive vision to provoke personal journeys towards collective possibility.
Reservations for Self Portaits are currently at capacity. Waitlists will begin one hour prior to show time at BRIC House.
6-7:30PM
Activist Art-Making
Using a variety of media, including block-printing, design your own postcard and advocate for a cause that you care about in this Activist Art-Making session. Led by BRIC teaching artists.
6:30-8:30PM
Collaborative Podcasting on Justice
What kind of justice would you like to see in the world? How could someone else better understand your lived experience? Join us and make your voice heard during our collaborative podcasting sessions, when we invite festival goers to share their stories, thoughts, and experiences around themes of justice and empathy through a brief interview. Sessions will also take place on Fri, Apr 26, 6:30-8:30PM, and Sat, Apr 27, 2-4PM.
7:30-9PM
Stories of Humanity: A Night with the Innocence Project and Phony Ppl
What happens when someone is wrongly accused and convicted of a crime? Through a night of music and storytelling, exonerees share their experiences of injustice within the criminal justice system in the United States. Brooklyn soul funk band Phony Ppl provide the soundtrack and a musical echo of resilience and self-determination embodied by the evenings’ storytellers.
Ongoing
The Portrait is Political
The recognition of the individual is the first step in justice; for this reason, we curated The Portrait is Political, a series of three exhibitions related by their unique deployment of the genre of portraiture to make a political impact. A solo exhibition of small-scale, circular and triangular panel paintings by noted Brooklyn-based artist Jaishri Abichandani, Jasmine Blooms At Night, portrays South Asian American feminists in the local community who are making a large social impact. These jewel-like paintings are elaborated with decorative elements drawn from South Asian visual traditions. Dear Los Angeles, Love, Brooklyn, is a selection of photographs by Texas Isaiah, a visual narrator from Brooklyn, that explores gender, race, and sexuality by inviting the sitters to participate in the photographic process. The invitation constructs a space to begin and continue collaborative visual dialogues about legacy, self-empowerment, emotional justice, protection, and topophilia (the affective bond between people and place). The Other Is You: Brooklyn Queer Portraiture, curated by Liz Collins with assistant curators Anna Parisi and Sol Nova, is an exhibition of portraits by some 37 Brooklyn LGBTQ artists, displayed salon style on the large center wall of BRIC’s gallery. In addition, Collins, who is both an artist and designer, designed a gathering space/viewing lounge in the center of the Gallery. This exhibition contains nudity.
Future Historical Society HQ
The Future Historical Society is a community storytelling project created by a multi-generational collective of Fort Greene neighbors, and led by artist Yazmany Arboleda. At businesses, churches, and parks throughout Fort Greene, personal histories of this community come to life through podcasts, performances, and visual installations created by FHS members. The stories illuminate untold histories of the neighborhood, while envisioning a more connected, interdependent future. Stop by the HQ to pick up your map, meet FHS members, and learn more about the groups' creative process. The Future Historical Society is commissioned by BRIC. To learn more, visit bricartsmedia.org/fhs.
Macon Reed: A Pressing Conference
Focused on providing truth in a world of fake news, A Pressing Conference is an immersive installation, participatory project, and resource guide for those interested in resisting and responding to the current political crisis. The installation is based on the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room in the White House and recreates the podium, presidential backdrop, flags, columns, microphones and seating chart. Performances and readings will take place throughout the festival, and the public is also invited to step up to the podium to share visions of what news briefings might sound like from their perspective. We encourage visitors to share their thoughts and photos on social media, by including #apressingconference in the caption.
Laura Hadden & Tennessee Watson: Wage/Working
Wage/Working explores income inequality and the concept of wage by asking participants to spend one dollar to hear a dollar’s worth of a worker’s time. A jukebox holds a collection of audio portraits of individuals reflecting on labor and compensation. Each of those portraits are edited to a length which corresponds with the amount of time it takes the profiled worker to earn $1. Those who earn the least are given the most time to speak.
Harriet's Apothecary Healing Space
A space for self-guided reflection and sanctuary, with materials and instructions provided by Harriet's Apothecary.
The BRIC OPEN is an arts and ideas festival that converges around BRIC’s core values of creativity, inclusion, participation, and community, bringing people together to radically imagine a more equitable, liberated future. This year’s festival theme, JUSTICE, interrogates the possibilities of justice and empathy and creates space to find freedom in self-expression and to witness others in their full humanity. Click here to learn more about the artists, panelists, and other participants.
BRIC OPEN Sponsor:
Venue Information:
BRIC House is Brooklyn’s cultural living room: a 40,000 square foot multi-disciplinary arts and media complex in the former Strand Theatre, where emerging and established artists can create work that deepens their practice and engages the diverse communities of the borough.
Beginning Nov. 1, 2022, attendees of any BRIC House programming will no longer have to show proof of vaccination or a negative test to enter the building. Masks are encouraged but not required in all BRIC operated spaces. If you have questions regarding this protocol, please email Safety@bricartsmedia.org
BRIC is committed to welcoming people of all abilities. BRIC's main entrance, located on Rockwell Street, is fully accessible. In addition the main floor of BRIC House has an accessible, all-gender bathroom. The BRIC Media Center, located on the 2nd floor, is accessible via elevator. The Gallery level is accessible via a wheelchair lift. Portable FM assistive listening devices are available for programs on the Stoop and in the Ballroom upon request. To make a specific access request, or to let us know other ways we can provide you with a welcoming experience, please contact Benno Orlinsky at borlinsky@bricartsmedia.org or (718) 683-5637.