MoAD Programs & Events
By The Museum of the African Diaspora
MoAD Programs & EventsMar 10, 2022
The Quirkiness of a Palette Knife
Have you ever wondered how aspects of one’s life and problems in the real world translate into popular art? In this episode of Diaspora Stories Project, we will explore the similarities and differences between Claude Clark and Tiffany Conway, two artists who appear to have very similar styles. We got the chance to interview Conway and talk about the emotions, planning, and storytelling behind her style. Continue listening to find out how Tiffany Conway’s work helps us better understand Claude Clark and see how style evolves over time.
Racialized Bodies in Dance
In this episode, we will explore the life and legacy of the late Ruth Beckford, a dancer and choreographer from Oakland, CA. We also interviewed Raissa Simpson, the founder of PUSH dance company in San Francisco, CA. Both dancers mainly focus on serving their community and using their work to get involved in social and political issues that affect the African Diaspora. During the interview, Raissa talks about the perception of the Black body in dance as unrefined and unprofessional. We also discussed how Black bodies are harmed through racial injustice, policing, and everyday life as People of Color interact with the world around them. "In the performing arts world, the body is neutral, but the bodies that everyone considers neutral are the bodies of the White dancers," Raissa explains. “Racialized bodies are those that are unable to find neutral due to how they are perceived."
Black Comics: From Equality to Eternity
In this episode, we will focus on two different artists from two different time periods that use the same medium to deliver their messages. Morrie Turner is a Black comic book artist who created a Black and multi-racial comic strip called “Wee Pals.” Nyame Brown is an artist who connects Blackness to the future. We will explore how their art brought People of Color into the comic world, and how their art affected the Bay Area.
Conversations Across the Diaspora with guest Wole Soyinka, hosted by Sarah Ladipo Manyika
A featured conversation from Conversations Across the Diaspora between Sarah Ladipo Manyika and Nobel laureate, author, playwright, poet, and political activist Wole Soyinka.
The selected conversation engages Professor Soyinka's first work of fiction in nearly 50 years, Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth which was released on September 28th.
Click here to view the Audio Summary provided by Professor Wole Soyinka
Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth is available for purchase online at the MoAD bookstore.
WOLE SOYINKA was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1986. Born in Abeokuta, Nigeria, in 1934, he is an author, playwright, poet, and political activist whose prolific body of work includes The Interpreters, his debut novel that was published in 1965, and Death and the King’s Horseman, a play that was first performed in 1976. Soyinka was twice jailed in Nigeria for his criticism of the Nigerian government, and he destroyed his U.S. Green Card in 2016 when Donald Trump was elected president of the United States.
Sarah Ladipo Manyika was raised in Nigeria and has lived in Kenya, France, Zimbabwe, and England. Sarah is a novelist, short story writer, essayist, and founding books editor for Ozy.com. Her debut novel, In Dependence, is an international bestseller while her second novel, Like a Mule Bringing Ice Cream to the Sun, has been translated into a number of languages.
Her nonfiction includes personal essays and intimate profiles of people she meets from Mrs. Harris and Pastor Evan Mawarire to Toni Morrison, Margaret Busby, and Michelle Obama. Sarah previously served on MoAD’s board and currently serves as Board President for the women’s writing residency, Hedgebrook. Sarah is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a San Francisco Public Library Laureate, and a member of the National Books Critics Circle.
This program series is made possible by the generous support of Peggy Woodford Forbes This program is presented in partnership with the San Francisco Public Library
Funding has been provided by California Humanities and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) as part of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.
Artist Talk | Vincent Miranda: Florida jitt | MoAD 2022
A reception and conversation with MoAD Emerging Artist Vincent Miranda and Demetri Broxton, MoAD’s Senior Director of Education.
January 8, 2022
@ 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm (PST)
About
Vincent Miranda: Florida jitt is the final presentation of the 2019-2020 Emerging Artists Program. Raised in a White and AfroLatinx household, Miranda explores the embodied tension of being caught between multiple cultural identities. This lack of self created what the artist calls an “identity vacuum;” a space that would eventually be filled by his surrounding environment: the whole Down South. Miranda’s work inhabits the interstices of Southern hip-hop, masculinity, and the natural landscape—exploring how these entities contribute to identity as young men-of-color. Referencing regionally specific gestures, artifacts, humidity, and foliage, sculptural interpretations—consisting of silicone objects, armatures, and glass vessels—begin to convey the experience of a ‘New South.’
Vincent Miranda (b. 1991) is an artist from Broward County, Florida. Miranda received his MFA from California College of the Arts, 2019. Using sculptural investigations in silicone and glass, his work explores a contemporary Southern identity, informed by Hip-Hop, The Come Up, and artifacts of a South Florida landscape. Miranda is a recipient of The Fountainhead Residency, The Growlery Residency, and the CCA Alumni Sculpture Residency.
Emerging Artist Program presents Vincent Miranda: Florida jitt on view January 5 – February 27, 2022