20/20: Screening at Gallery 44 featuring video work by Black Artists Union
August 16th, 2019, 6:00pm-9:30 pm
Coinciding with Black Artists Union’s online exhibition A Dark Room, Gallery 44 will be hosting a screening and discussion on August 16th, from 6:00pm-9:30 pm. BAU will be screening their web series created for A maze of collapsing lines, as well as a black-made film chosen by the public. A question and answer period will follow the screenings. Food and refreshments will be served. This event is free to the public, and pre-registration is not required. For more information, please email sophia@gallery44.org
Chapter 2 of A maze of collapsing lines, titled A Dark Room, features the self-curated work of Black Artists Union members Jem Baptiste, Oreka James, Sylvia Limbana, Filmon Yohannes and Zoma.
A Dark Room takes the form of two mini-series that explore Black representation in film through self-expression and storytelling. The first mini-series, The Body Talks and I’m Listenin’, consists of two videos that highlight Black nightlife as the originator of many popular styles of dance that have been appropriated by mainstream culture. These videos function to give credit back to the originators of these dance styles, that include queer nightlife, and “voguing”, among others. The second series, I Declare this Meeting of the Midnight Society Closed, foregrounds storytelling as a way to learn Black histories and ancestral lineage, and honours the domestic labour performed by Black wimmin. These videos will be released sequentially, on a weekly basis.
Alongside the film series, A Dark Room serves as a place for interaction and discourse about Black film and Black media for the Black community; A Dark Room features an online archive, created by and for the community. Only members of the Black community will be given access to this section of the website, and will have the opportunity to embed and link to their own content, creating a crowd-sourced archive.
