US PREMIERE
repose without rest without end
Okwui Okpokwasili & Peter Born
Video Installation on view June 12-22, 7am-11pm
Live Performances
June 13 at 8pm
June 20 at 8pm
Amphitheater at 28 Liberty, Ground Level
Enter at Liberty Street between Nassau and William St.
Okwui Okpokwasili and Peter Born’s new video and sound installation takes its point of departure from Okpokwasili’s performance work Adaku’s Revolt. This new piece focuses on a young Black girl who, as she is coming of age, rejects imposed beauty standards. She stops straightening her hair in refusal of the pain and damage created by chemical straighteners and hot irons used to tame unruly curls.
In this new video installation, Okpokwasili draws connections between Adaku’s hair and tree roots. The girl’s refusal becomes a vehicle of resistance from which the artist draws connections with trees whose seeds were transported by fugitive slaves in their hair. These acts of resistance reproduced networks not unlike the way trees communicate through extensive root systems underground. Stories and seeds are passed on through multiple generations of humans and vegetation, refusing trauma while reproducing and celebrating resilience.
Two live performance activations of the work will take place at 8pm on Mondays during River To River.
Co-commissioned by LMCC and The Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural & Educational Center with support of the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation
Presented in partnership with Fosun, with the support of the Alliance for Downtown New York
Presented with the support of Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels
Okwui Okpokwasili and Peter Born collaborate on performance, video and installation work, including “Swallow the Moon” at Jacob’s Pillow, “on the way, undone” at the High Line, “Poor People’s TV Room (SOLO) installation” at the New Museum and the Hammer Museum, and “returning” for Danspace Project. Okpokwasili is the recipient of a 2018 Princeton University Hodder Fellowship, a 2018 Herb Alpert, an Antonyo Award, a 2018 Doris Duke Artist Award, and a 2018 MacArthur Fellowship.
A devotee of dance ever since its origins, the High Jewelry Maison is today strengthening its commitment to the arts with Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels.
This initiative, guided by the values of creation, transmission and education, is dedicated to supporting artists and institutions in presenting choreographic heritage, while also promoting new productions.
Since autumn of 2020, Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels has forged a number of international partnerships in support of dance companies and institutions.
In addition, events such as the Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels Festival, which took place in London in March of 2022, strengthen these bonds by offering periodic international encounters focused on choreographic performance, combining contemporary repertoires and original creations.
Finally, Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels supports awareness-raising initiatives focused on culture and dance for audiences of every stripe, professionals and amateurs alike.