Gates, Borders, Barriers: Resistance Revival Chorus and Pennants & Poets
Gates, Borders, Barriers: Resistance Revival Chorus and Pennants & Poets
The Resistance Revival Chorus, and The Fortune Society with Jenny Polak.
August 28, 2022, 3:00 – 4:30pm
This program was held at the site of Fred Wilson’s public art sculpture, Mind Forged Manacles/Manacle Forged Minds in the plaza inside of Columbus Park, in Downtown Brooklyn.
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About the artist
This afternoon event marked a significant date in the history of freedom as the anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” speech (1963), the murder of Emmett Till (1955), and the signing of the Slavery Abolition Act (1833) in the UK. The program explored issues of equality, incarceration, and social and racial justice in a powerful and compelling series of vocal and spoken word performances.
For this event, Members of the Resistance Revival Chorus, a collective of more than 60 women and non-binary singers, came together to breathe joy and song into the resistance, and to uplift and center women’s voices.
Additionally, the Fortune Society—a nonprofit that helps individuals with justice involvement rebuild their lives—and artist Jenny Polak presented Pennants & Poets, an installation with spoken word performances. Polak embellished Fred Wilson’s sculptural ironwork panels with 50 flying Pennants as a stage and backdrop. The pennants were printed with poems and messages from people who have been directly impacted by incarceration. For this iteration of the installation, Fortune Society community members shared writing made in response to Fred Wilson’s work.
Writers and Readers from The Fortune Society included:
Helen Taylor, Ryan “Blustone” Bennett, Lionel “Doc da Edutainer” Limage, Hilton N. Webb Jr., Spiritual Activist Marvin Wade, Becky Jane Dunham, Randy Bryant, Daniel Kelly, Erobos Abzu Lamashtu, OKA, “E”, Felix Guzman, and Clemese Jack.
This event was part of “Gates, Borders, Barriers,” a series of public programs in connection with Fred Wilson’s year-long installation Mind Forged Manacles/Manacle Forged Minds. This program was presented in partnership with Downtown Brooklyn Partnership, the Dumbo Business Improvement District, DTBK + Dumbo Art Fund, New York State’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative, VIA Art Fund, and Pace Gallery.
Resistance Revival Chorus, Jenny Polak, Fortune Society
The Resistance Revival Chorus
The Resistance Revival Chorus (RRC) is a collective of more than 60 women and non-binary singers who join together to breathe joy and song into the resistance, and to uplift and center women’s voices. Chorus members are touring musicians, film and television actors, Broadway performers, solo recording artists, gospel singers, political activists, educators, filmmakers, artists, and more, representing a multitude of identities, professions, creative backgrounds, and activist causes. The RRC centers women in music, and addresses how historically marginalized women have been in the music industry.
Pennants & Poets: The Fortune Society with Jenny Polak
The Fortune Society believes in the power of people to change. The New York City-based nonprofit helps individuals with justice involvement rebuild their lives, through innovative services and advocacy. Organized by artist Jenny Polak in collaboration with writers from The Fortune Society, Pennants & Poets is an installation and spoken word event. The Pennants, printed with poems and messages from people who have been directly impacted by incarceration, were created in collaboration with Writers from Fortune and Hour Children Working Women, as well as currently incarcerated writers, for the Offshore project at Socrates Sculpture Park in 2020. In 2021 Polak began making public art events in which the Writers perform their words with 50 flying pennants as a backdrop. The work has appeared in Dumbo Brooklyn, and PS1-MoMA in Queens where the artist also led a public pennant-making workshop.