Performance date: Saturday, May 14, 4:00 P.M.

Performance location: Great Hall

Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons works with her husband, saxophonist and composer Neil Leonard, to reinsert the black body into historical narratives. Under the name FEFA, they use personal stories, music and procession to evoke both protest and devotion.





The performance in the room on the floor where Lincoln's second inaugural ball was held presents a study of an American president who freed the slaves and the repercussion of his vision as it reverberates through the colonies, the Caribbean and south continental Brazil. Brazil, Cuba, the United States, and Haiti--destinations in the transatlantic journey of black slaves--bear witness to the incomplete struggle of black vs. white and the resulting discourses of racial intolerance. In that room, where are we now in the historical passages of time, both geographically and metaphorically? Through recitation, music, movement and costume, this performance illuminates present struggles, focusing on the process of healing. The music explores the processional essence of music, from Civil War-era brass bands to the first jazz ensembles from of New Orleans, to Cuban music.


Images:
FEFA performance by Campos and Leonard at the Guggenheim Museum, 2014. Photo by Toshiki Yashiro. Carrie Mae Weems LIVE: Past Tense/Future Perfect, Executive Producer the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, April 25-27, 2014. The name and image of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum are trademarks of The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. Used with permission.