WE ARE HERE Festival

September 5–7, 2019
Various Times

WE ARE HERE

A three-day arts festival exploring Indigenous past, present and future, curated by Abrons Arts Center 2019 AIRspace Curatorial Resident Aru Apaza. The festival will include work by Indigenous visual artists, filmmakers and musicians who utilize their own technologies, ancestral knowledge, and survival tactics to reflect on what it means to live a "balanced" life during the "unbalanced" times of late stage capitalism.

SEPTEMBER 5

Thru her Eyes: Indigenous filmsPlayhouse • 6:30 - 9:30pm Sliding Scale Admission: $5, $10, $15, $20

SEPTEMBER 6

Morning Water PrayerEast River Park Amphitheater • 7:00 AM

Plant Walk with HERBAN CURAEast River Amphitheater • 9:00 AM $10 and $20 suggested donation

WE ARE HEREExhibition curated by Aru Apaza September 6-October 3 Opening Reception with Sounds by DJ beeso and Chhoti maa: 6:00-9:00 PM

Emily Johnson/Catalyst: Kinstillatory Mappings in Light and Dark MatterAmphitheater • 6:00 - 9:00 PM A ceremonial fire, community, and story telling to honor and give gratitude to the Lenape Land Abrons is situated on. Bring food to share!

SEPTEMBER 7

Communal Sand-Painting with Bert BenallyAbrons Amphitheater • 12:00 PM Free! With RSVP

All Nations Day PartyAmphitheater • 1:00 - 4:30 PM Free! with RSVP

The Kinship SpaceshipExperimental Theater • Doors at 6:30 PM, Performances at 7:00 PM Sliding Scale Admission: $5, $10, $15, $20

SEPTEMBER 20

El SalónMain Gallery • 7:00 - 9:30 PM Free! With RSVP

SEPTEMBER 15, 22, 29

Creating Other Worlds: Scifi Writing Workshops with Lou CornumAbrons Room 201 • 1:30- 3pm Free! with RSVP

OCTOBER 3

Emily Johnson/Catalyst: Kinstillatory Mappings in Light and Dark MatterAmphitheater • 7:00 - 9:00 PM A ceremonial fire, community, and story telling to honor and give gratitude to the Lenape Land Abrons is situated on. Bring food to share!

ABOUT Aru Apaza (she/they) is an interdisciplinary artist who favors working in performance, installation, and analog film media. Based in Lenape territory, Aru is Aymara, connecting her to the sacred lands of so called Bolivia. Currently, Aru explores late stage Capitalism through the lens of a space ndn, portraying the myriad of experiences surround Urban Indigeneity. Often lost in the dissonance of Capitalism, imagination becomes vital in initiating an important dialogue of indigenous liberation and survival. Apaza's work is situated within the vast intersection of Ancestral Technologies and modern day Western Imperialism. FUNDING WE ARE HERE is made possible by the New York Women's Foundation, American Indian Community House and the Institute for Curatorial Practice in Performance Leadership Fellowship. The 2019-2020 Season at Abrons Arts Center is supported, in part, by generous grants from the Howard Gilman Foundation, the Mertz Gilmore Foundation, the Harkness Foundation for Dance, the Jerome Foundation, the Scherman Foundation, and other generous Henry Street Settlement funders. This program is also supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and support from the New York State Council on the arts with the support of Govenor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. Image: Aru Apaza