"Softly, against the grain of a metaphysical presumption of a right to perform or not to perform (a knowledge, one might say, of the freedom to be or not to be), which undergirds performance even at its most critically and theoretically sophisticated, I would like to present some preliminary notes on blackness as nonperformance." –Fred Moten
In conjunction with the French Institute Alliance Française’s Crossing the Line festival, and in collaboration with Columbia University School of the Arts as part of Curating the Ephemeral, MoMA's Department of Media and Performance Art hosts three talks for Afterlives: The Persistence of Performance. Convened by Adrian Heathfield and André Lepecki, Afterlives addresses the ways in which so-called ephemeral art persists over time. Performance is increasingly documented, archived, institutionally incorporated, and globally disseminated. While its ephemeral nature is often celebrated, its inherent transience binds it to its many returns—its mediations and afterlives. Today, criticism is focused more on the recurrence and persistence of performance than on its disappearance. Performance’s material remains linger as vague memories, oral legend, transmitted techniques, or infrastructures of feeling.
The public programs at MoMA feature talks by Fred Moten, Lin Hixson and Matthew Goulish, and Kathleen C. Stewart.
Afterlives, an initiative of Columbia University School of the Arts as part of Curating the Ephemeral, is funded by the European Research Council. Afterlives is part of the Crossing the Line festival and is realized in collaboration with The Museum of Modern Art's departments of Education and Media and Performance Art, and with the French Institute Alliance Française.
Adult and Academic Programs at The Museum of Modern Art are made possible by endowments established by Agnes Gund and Daniel Shapiro, The Junior Associates of The Museum of Modern Art, Walter and Jeanne Thayer, and by the gifts of Alan Kanzer. Additional support is provided by Paula and Jim Crown, The Contemporary Arts Council of The Museum of Modern Art, and the MoMA Annual Education Fund.
Tickets ($12 adult, $10 senior, $8 student, $5 member guest, free for members) are available online or at the lobby information desk.