Screening & Discussion with Cynthia Tobar and Kevin Quiles Bonilla
As part of the exhibition programming for
Historiographical Interventions
Friday, April 29, 2022, from 6:30 to 8:00 PM
As part of the public programming for Historiographical Interventions, a screening and discussion will take place at The Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural & Educational Center, in Studio #309. Following a video screening of Cynthia Tobar’s ongoing project Cities for People, Not for Profit and Kevin Quiles Bonilla’s 2019 performance Presidential Alert (America, Lip-sync for your Life), Anthony Huffman will facilitate a conversation between Bonilla and Tobar as it relates to themes of space, power, representation, and the framing of historical narratives. Over the course of the evening, the participants will compare and contrast the practices of Tobar and Bonilla, and question how contemporary events get historicized and by whom. In the case of the former, they will consider stories around housing, displacement, and gentrification in Bushwick, and in the case of the latter, they will contemplate how narratives around Hurricane Maria's impact on Puerto Rico were framed and represented in the media. This event marks the first collaboration between Kunstraum LLC and The Clemente.
For the press release for the exhibition, please click here.
View screening event & discussing on YouTube.
Cynthia Tobar (b. 1977) is an artist, activist-scholar, archivist, and oral historian who is passionate about creating interactive, participatory stories documenting social change. She has conceptualized and exhibited several captivating oral history and socially engaged art projects that document social movements and student activism.
Kevin Quiles Bonilla (b. 1992) is an interdisciplinary artist born in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He received a BA in Fine Arts – Photography from the University of Puerto Rico (2015) and an MFA from Parsons The New School for Design (2018). He explores ideas around power, colonialism, and history with his identity as context. He currently lives and works between Puerto Rico and New York.
Address for event:
107 Suffolk Street, in Studio #309, New York, NY 10002
(btw Rivington & Delancey)
info@theclementecenter.org, (212) 260-4080
Image credits: 1) Kevin Quiles Bonilla, performance still of "Presidential Alert (America, Lip-sync for Your Life)” 2019, courtesy of the artist; 2) Headshot of Cynthia Tobar; 3) Headshot of Kevin Quiles Bonilla, photo by Rebecca Ou (2020)
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KUNSTRAUM's programs are supported, in part, by Art inGeneral and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature.