Configurations in Motion: Performance Curation and Communities of Color met at Duke University on June 27 and 28, 2015 and again July 14 and 15, 2016. The group strives to discover the terms of its own configuration, as an intentionally diverse group of funders, activists, artists, presenters, academics, and curators. We are young and mid-career; accomplished and emerging. While the 2015 group included several cultural workers based in Durham, and many from New York City, the 2016 group also included participants from Chicago. The 2016 group considered topics including international bookings and curatorial particularities abroad; local resources; activism and feminism; how institutions hold (racist) histories that can be hard to dislodge; current projects; dream projects; and the terms of working in various sorts of venues and relationships to communities of color. Information shared often took the shape of anecdote to shed light on strategies and experiences that shape our shared sense of curatorial practice. In all, the group continues to expand its awareness of the depths of white privilege, and ways to communicate progressive resistant practices that might encourage participation in the arts that we so cherish.

—Thomas F. DeFrantz

 

How do we imagine twenty-first century configurations of performance curation and presenting that acknowledge the particular concerns of audiences and artists of color?  

How does performance that relates to people of color fit into trends of contemporary curatorial practice?

 

These questions are posed in the CONFIGURATIONS IN MOTION: Performance Curation and Communities of Color booklet produced last year, a free and accessible resource for performance curators and communities. The Table of Contents, posted below, displays the wide range of topics and voices in this landmark publication.

HISTORIES, LEGACIES

“Dancing While Black” Paloma McGregor

“Thinking from Within” Marýa Wethers

“Narrating Parallels” Ishmael Houston-Jones

“Movement Research as a NYC case study— my subjective view” Levi Gonzalez

“Below The Radar: Visibility and Representation of Independent Artists of Color in Community, University and Other Performance Venues” Andrea E. Woods Valdés

“Programming from the Soul” Aaron Greenwald

“Lessons from the South Bronx” Jane Gabriels

“My Foundation is A Legacy of Liberation” A. Nia Austin-Edwards

REFLECTIONS, VISIONS

“Rep’ing Blackness: Curating Performance as a Practice of Radical Care” Nicole L. Martin

“Black Joy in the Hour of Chaos: Reflections on Movement and Social Movements” Christina Knight

“BLACK MALE REVISITED: Imaging The Dark Divine” Jaamil Olawale Kosoko

“Inclusion-based Curation” Rasu Jilani

“Bodies in Motion, Moving through the University” Dasha A. Chapman

“Thoughts on Curatorial Practice” Joseph F. Jordan

“identifying the end-game” thomas f. defrantz

Anyone interested in participating in the Configurations in Motion group, please email t.defrantz@duke.edu.