NUBIAN KNIGHTS NETWORK: WHERE THEY AT: A Multimedia Archive Of New Orleans Bounce Hip-Hop & Homosexuality Sub-Cultures Overlap Feb 11th

QUOTATIONS OF "BLACK"

"Whenever I use BLACK it relates to some history of Africans in that particular place. It’s the idea of the color BLACK as a metaphor, or as a representation of African-Americans. It’s the notion of BLACK- BLACKNESS - and all its other meanings in relation to the history of race..."

- Fred Wilson

"Most of my fortitude to continue doing the work comes from the moral outrage I feel about the injustices that Black people endure disproportionately daily."

- N. Abdul-Wakil

"In the end, what matters is not skin shade but pan-African consciousness. Loving your complexion, your nose, lips, hair length and texture, no matter what the politics or trends decide, and simply be. That's the problem with us (African folks). We're still learning how to love ourselves. So used to glorifying others and putting others first..."

- Dredlocks Tree

Thursday, February 18, 2010

WHERE THEY AT:
A Multimedia Archive Of New Orleans Bounce
Hip-Hop & Homosexuality Sub-Cultures Overlap
Feb 11th - Mar 27th (NYC & Beyond)

Sissy Valentine's Show (One Eyed Jacks)

“Where They At:
A Multi-Media Archive of New Orleans Bounce”
February 11th – April 3rd, 2010
Henry Street Settlement Abrons Art Center
466 Grand Street (@ Pitt Street)
New York, New York, U.S.A.
(212) 726-9200
www.henrystreet.org

OTHER EXHIBIT CITIES AND DATES LISTED BELOW

SPECIAL THANKS TO MY BOY ANDRE P.
FOR GIVING ME THE HEADS-UP ABOUT THIS EXHIBIT

Brief Synopsis:

Just in time for Mardi Gras, check out this multimedia tribute to the key players and founders of bounce, a unique style of hip-hop homegrown in the projects of New Orleans. This fascinating homage to a little-known genre presents viewers with photographs, oral histories and video footage chronicling bounce's development, from its roots in the late '80s through its current dispersion throughout the post-Katrina New Orleans diaspora. Where They At will hold its opening reception on February 11 and run through April 3 at the Henry Street Settlement's Abrons Art Center.

Big Freedia (Queen Diva)

About The Project...

Where They At, an exhibition that portrays the founders, architects, and players in New Orleans hip-hop and the uniquely regional rap known as bounce music, a phenomenon that evolved from the communities based in the city’s housing projects. Photographs, oral histories, and video footage compiled by photographer Aubrey Edwards and journalist Alison Fensterstock document the passing of seminal beats from New Orleans music traditions to a new generation in the late 1980’s, and the creation of this new voice in Southern roots music. This multi-media archive draws a line to the present-day diaspora, as Hurricane Katrina has scattered a once tight-knit bounce and hip-hop community whose music only existed at home — a home that has been redefined physically and culturally.

New Orleans has midwifed every existing form of indigenous American music, from jazz to blues to funk, and Hip-Hop is the newest manifestation of that Southern tradition. Mardi Gras Indian chants, brass band beats and call-and-response routines equally inform Bounce music, which almost invariably samples the Showboys’ “Drag Rap” (a.k.a. “Triggerman”) and Derek B’s “Rock the Beat” or Cameron Paul’s “Brown Beats.” Featuring lyrical patterns that focus mainly on sex, parties and dancing, it invites – even demands – audience participation by calling out dance steps or prompting replies.

OTHER "WHERE THEY ARE" WEB PAGE REFERENCES

Website: Innocent Words Magazine & Records Where They At, a multi-media archive of New Orleans Bounce

Website: Museyon Guides
“Where They At”, a Look at Queer Rap in The Big Easy, Bounces to NYC’s Henry Street Settlement

UPCOMING “WHERE THEY AT” EXHIBIT EVENTS

“Where They At: A Multi-Media Archive of New Orleans Bounce”
February 11th – April 3rd, 2010
Henry Street Settlement Abrons Art Center
466 Grand Street (@ Pitt Street)
New York, New York, U.S.A.
(212) 726-9200
www.henrystreet.org

March 7th – March 21th, 2010
Birdhouse Gallery
1304 East Cesar Chavez Street
Austin, Texas
www.birdhousegallery.com

April 22, 2010: Full archive opening at the
Ogden Museum of Southern Art
900 Camp Street
New Orleans Louisiana 70130

April 23, 2010: Partial exhibition opening on the grounds of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in the Grandstand.

Ongoing programming at the Ogden Museum (see above), including performances, live interviews and screenings, will continue through July 2010 – dates TBD.

For more information go to www.WhereTheyAtnola.com
All images copyright © Aubrey Edwards and Alison Fensterstock.
Website: Aubrey Edwards Photography (Where They At)

UPDATE (Tuesday, March 30th, 2010)

Hey FAM,

I went to the Henry Street Settlement Abrons Art Center in lower Manhattan to check out the WHERE THEY AT Multimedia Archive Of New Orleans Bounce and had a nice time.

I invited my heterosexual cousin James (aka hip-hop artist SladeOne) to come check it out with me. It was clearly an eye-opener for him because he didn't know about the history of "Bounce" in the south of Louisiana which is a sub-culture of hip-hop (read the above information) of which my cousin LOVES a lot.

I felt it was an important opportunity for us to hang out together besides the family related events we go to. He could see the Black same gender loving experience (which I am and a part of) with a merger of hip-hop which he's a big part of. My cousin brought another friend of his and we looked to see what the exhibit had to offer.

So below are some pics I took the day we went which was Tuesday, March 9th, 2010: