Black Radical Imagination is a touring program of visual shorts that delve into the worlds of new media, video art, and experimental narrative curated by Erin Christovale and Amir George. See the trailer. After a successful tour last year, including screenings in over 12 cities such as Los Angeles, Oakland, Boston, Basel Switzerland, and Chicago, as well garnering a feature in ARTFORUM’s Best of 2013, the series, along with a forum with filmmakers, comes to New York City at The Cooper Union for two days, starting this Friday April 11th through Saturday April 12th.

Admission is free and open to the public.

Note: School of Art students interested in having a studio visit or one on one critique with an artist from Black Radical Imagination should email sebastiandegre@gmail.com to schedule an appointment.

Friday Program

Black Radical Imagination (short film program)
3:30PM-5:30PM
Films by Jeannette Elhers, Jabari Zuberi, Terence Nance & Sanford Biggers, Lauren Kelley, Lewis Vaughn and a special screening of Memory Room 452 by John Akomfrah and the Black Audio Film Collective. Followed by a panel.

Saturday Program

Readings: Martine Syms
2:00PM-4:00PM
Martine Syms is a cultural entrepreneur based in Los Angeles and will be presenting her Mundane Futurist Manifesto and MOST DAYS - a new audio work that takes the form of table read for a science-fiction screenplay, with score by Neal Reinalda. The story considers what an average day looks like for a young, black woman in 2050 Los Angeles.

Performance: Jeannette Elhers
5:00PM-6:30PM
Jeannette Elhers is a video and performance artist based in Copenhagen, Denmark whose works revolves around the Danish slave trade in the colonial era. Jeannette Ehlers will be performing “Whip It Good” - reenacting one of the most brutal punishment methods used during slavery. In using the same method on a white canvas, she creates a personal and simple, though contradictory, artistic act of striking back. Sponsored by Alanna Lockward/Artlabour Archives and Ballhaus Naunynstrasse.