Greetings friend!
We hope this finds you well and enjoying summer…
We would like to extend a special invitation to join us for our upcoming Black Lunch Table event that will take place July 9th and July 11th on the High Line.
Convening at 22nd Street, these conversations will engage cultural workers who identify as part of the African Diaspora and members of the communities surrounding the High Line in critical conversation. We’d love for you to join us for lunch and conversation.
Please see below for details and please RSVP, as seating is limited!
July 9th @ 5-8pm: free photo booth and Wikipedia editathon
July 11th @ 12pm: Artists roundtable for visual artists, curators and art writers of the African Diaspora
July 11 @ 2:30pm: The People’s Table, for members of the High Line, Chelsea or New York communities
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B.Y.O. B.L.T. @ The Highline
The Highline’s B.Y.O. (Bring Your Own) is a new series of intimate, unscripted conversations staged in public space. Hosted by artists who center their practice on food and dialogue, these events contribute to an exploration of critical thought, creative exchange, and discourse production. BYO is inaugurated this year with McKendree Key’s The Breakfast Den, our project, The Black Lunch Table, and Elia Alba’s Supper Club.
BLT is an ongoing collaboration between Hart and Valentine initiated in 2005 at the preeminent artist residency, Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. Imagining the lunch table as a discursive site where social connections are made, organizing is planned, social hierarchies revealed, and power dynamics played out, BLT provides a space to discuss critical issues. The ultimate goal is to give visibility and validate shared concerns through exchange, while strengthening the bonds within the nebulous artistic community, and the larger community of neighbors and visitors.
All conversations will be recorded and photographed, transcribed, and published—both as part of the Black Lunch Table online archive, and as a booklet that will be available later in the year published by the High Line. Check back for information at www.thehighline.org
Session one (12:00 PM) - Artists Table
In this session, Hart and Valentine curate artists and cultural workers who identify as part of the African Diaspora, into intimate conversations. The Artists Table seeks to both democratize and augment the dominant narratives of contemporary art history by animating discourse among the cultural producers of color living it. This session provides a space to discuss critical issues directly affecting the international community of diasporic artists. It seeks to strengthen the bonds within this nebulous community and validates shared concerns through exchange. Light lunch will be provided.
If you are an artist or cultural producer who identifies as part of the African Diaspora and want to participate in the discussion, RSVP here.
Session two (2:30 PM) - People’s Table
At The People’s Table discussions address issues affecting historically disenfranchised populations beyond the single context of art. This session is open to neighbors and community members directly or loosely linked to the High Line. The People’s Table catalyzes candid conversations amongst a diversity of people, representing a variety of backgrounds, professions, ages and perspectives. The goal is to inspire new thinking around critical sociopolitical issues by cross-pollinating discourse and collecting the people's’ history. Light lunch will be provided.
If you live or work on the neighborhood surrounding the High Line or are in any way connected to the High Line community, and want to participate in the discussion, RSVP here.
Space at both tables is limited. We will send a reminder 5 days before the program to confirm your participation.
Participants will be required to arrive 15 minutes before the start time, and by the time of the program any unclaimed tickets to participate of the conversation will be released to the waitlist or walk-in audience members.
Conversation will be prompted and framed around critical themes, relevant to both private and public life; participants need no previous experience or knowledge.
Wikipedia edit-a-thon (Monday, July 9th, 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm EDT at the High Line, Chelsea Market passage between 15th and 16th Streets)
The Black Lunch Table (BLT) project will host our FIRST OUTDOOR edit-a-thon focusing on important but underrepresented New York area visual artists of the African Diaspora. We will provide a list of suggested artists to add or edit, with particular focus on Black artists who have worked within or are local to the host institution’s community and are currently under-documented on Wikipedia. No prior knowledge of editing is required, as we will provide a short introduction to the platform and will provide assistance with writing articles. Bring your own laptop (a small number of extra machines will be available for use if you don’t have one). Snacks and technical assistance provided.
and...
Photographer Tiffany Smith will be taking free portraits for Wikipedia in our Black Lunch Table photo booth! Check out our meetup page here.
Be sure to sign up for our list to know what we are doing: http://eepurl.com/bVUPWv and for more information please contact info@blacklunchtable.com
Looking forward to seeing you there!
Heather & Jina