“Consecrating the Cosmos: A Performance and Conversation with Nyugen E. Smith & D. Denenge Duyst-Akpem, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York Public Library, Harlem, NY
Audience-interactive performance/activation of the Houston Conwill cosmogram Rivers, where Langston Hughes’ ashes are buried, the title reflecting his poem “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”. Cosmogram was inaugurated in poetry and performance by Black Arts Movement founder Amiri Baraka and poet Maya Angelou.
After the performance, Nyugen and I sat on stage in the Schomburg’s main auditorium to converse about ritual art performance, Caribbean threads of connection, and main themes that arise in translation and the white gaze.
Nwangwa, Shirley. “One State to Another: Performance in Harlem Delves into Masquerade Tradition at Carnival” review of Schomburg performance and conversation with Nyugen Smith. ARTNews. June 28, 2018. Web.
Consecrating the Cosmos, Ritual Performance and Conversation with Nyugen Smith, Schomburg Center for Black Research, 2018