ABSCONDED: INAUGURAL MOVING MONUMENT RITUAL FOR ONA MARIA JUDGE STAINES | DRAGONFLY (ROBIN LAVERNE WILSON)
[USA]
Mon, September 7, 2020
12:00-1:30 PM
DRAGONFLY (AKA Robin LaVerne Wilson / Miss Justice Jester) has activated Grace Exhibition Space's Greenpoint, Brooklyn residency location through July and August. She debuts ABSCONDED-- the first of her living statue performance series as Ona Judge. The project inaugurates in New York City and is slated to continue indefinitely at George and Martha Washington monuments worldwide. Her goal is to uplift the memory of a forgotten Founding Mother of The United States, amplify the paradox of Black freedom as fugitivity, highlight the complexities of American chattel slavery, and contribute to the zeitgeist of conversations about who remains memorialized as we push towards a decolonized society.
Livestream & Updates available at www.dragonflyness.com/absconded
Date: [Unpaid] Labor Day - Monday, September 7, 2020
Time(s):12pm - 1:30pm
Locations: New York City USA – Wall Street to St. Paul’s Chapel to African Burial Ground
WALL STREET:
12pm -- Federal Hall
12:20pm -- NYSE
BROADWAY PROMENADES:
12:40 -- NYSE to St. Paul's Chapel
1:00 -- St. Paul's Chapel to African Burial Ground
(Social distancing expected and implored)
ONA JUDGE was born into slavery before the American Revolution. She was a seamstress and Martha Washington's body servant and "pet." While George was serving his second term, on May 21, 1796 at age 22, she quietly absconded from Philadelphia on a ship to New Hampshire as they ate dinner. With the help of the Free Black and abolitionist communities, she evaded capture for the rest of her life. Despite being considered the most privileged of the enslaved caste still chose to live in lifelong fugitivity as “freedom.”
ROBIN LAVERNE WILSON AKA DRAGONFLY [NYC]
DRAGONFLY is Robin LaVerne Wilson is Miss Justice Jester: Conceptual. Artist. Performer. Storyteller. Ritualist. Writer. Facilitator. Educator. Circle-keeper. Curator. Culture Warrior. Tambourinist. Dean of Details. Activist. Photographer. Filmmaker. Scholar. Minister. Ecologist. Accidental senatorial candidate. Texan-New Yorker. Maafa descendant. Nerd. Queer. Eccentric. Curious. Witty. Lover of all people and pronouns. Cat mom. AFFILIATIONS: Church of Stop Shopping, Grace Exhibition Space, Pollination Productions, The Opportunity Agenda, Jump-Start Theatre, La Pocha Nostra, Theatre Neumarkt, Miss Vera’s Academy, Betty’s Daughter Arts Collaborative, Esperanza Peace & Justice Center, Rutgers University, CUNY School of Professional Studies, and The University of Texas at Austin. INFLUENCES: Sharon Bridgforth, Linda Montano, Annie Sprinkle, Beth Stephens, Rev. Billy Talen, Guillermo Gómez-Peña, Sterling Houston, Harriet Tubman. Ona Judge.
GENEROUS SUPPORT BY:
Grace Exhibition Space
Squad Goals Collective
Loki Films
TEAM:
Sabura Rashid - director
Joy Brooke Fairfield - developmental dramaturg
Ak Jansen - costume fabricator
Gregory Corbino - associate dramaturg
Jill McDermid - institutional residency
Darryl Aiken-Afam - security
Johnny Fego - video producer
Steve Maing - video director
Graceson Abreu - associate dramaturg
Rudy Malveaux - outreach consultant
Kevin Powell [Glasgow] - costume consultant
Marisol Valle - residency maintenance
Valerie Sharp - public relations
Keisha Meowisha Kenyatta Kitty Catson - mascot
EXTENDED THANKS:
Erica Armstrong Dunbar
Ebony Noelle Golden
Monica Hunken
Tracey Lee Conyers
Amy Miyang Ginter
mayfield brooks
Veronica Vera
Guillermo Gomez-Pena
Linda Montano
Gan Golan
Raquel de Anda
Marc Enette
Dave Rudbarg
Mary Dean Wilson
Cedric Hill
Brandy Butler
Theatre Neumarkt
Laurie Arbeiter
Ela Thier
Dee Dee Maucher
Leda Resurreccion
Crystal Clarity
John Sims
Willie Dean
Bonita Oliver
John Quilty
Anthony Roberts
The Mighty Gareth
Pop the Balloon Man
James James
ABOUT GRACE EXHIBITION SPACE
182 AVENUE C NEW YORK, NY 10009
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GRACE:
Grace, n. - simple elegance or refinement of movement
Grace Period - an extended period granted as a special favor
The Three Graces (Greek Mythology) - charm, grace, and beauty
Opened in 2006, Grace Exhibition Space is devoted exclusively to Performance Art. We offer an opportunity to experience visceral and challenging works by the current generation of international performance artists whether emerging, mid-career or established. Our events are presented on the floor, not on a stage, dissolving the boundary between artist and viewer. This is how performance art is meant to be experienced and our mission is the glorification of performance art.
Grace Exhibition Space presents over 30 curated live performance art exhibitions each year, showcasing new work by more than 400 performance artists from across the United States and the world since 2006.
Grace Exhibition Space for International Performance Art Space IRS tax-exempt 501(c)3 status in 2015.
Grace Exhibition Space follows the We Have a Voice Collectives Code of Conduct to Promote Safe(r) Workplaces in the Performing Arts For more information and resources, visit: www.wehavevoice.org
