Photo by Julieta Cervantes
Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center (BMCM+AC) and The University of North Carolina Asheville present the ninth annual ReVIEWING Black Mountain College Conference Friday, September 29, through Sunday, October 1. The international event, which gathers artists and scholars to explore the history and legacy of Black Mountain College (BMC), will include more than 60 presenters and keynote addresses by Mel Chin and the Black Mountain Songs creative team.
“As the only international conference to focus on the legacy of Black Mountain College, ReVIEWING offers academics, artists and the public a meeting ground for creative discourse and expression based on a shared love and profound knowledge of BMC,” says BMCM+AC’s executive director, Jeff Arnal.
This year’s conference introduces two new programs, the BMCM+AC Performance Initiative and The Active Archive. The BMCM+AC Performance Initiative is a multi-part project offering residencies, workshops and performances of world-class interdisciplinary works. The Initiative kicks off with the southeast premiere of Brooklyn Youth Chorus’ multimedia stage work Black Mountain Songs, performed on September 29 and 30 at Diana Wortham Theatre. The project will continue during the week of March 13, 2018, with Dance Heginbotham’s The Principles of Uncertainty, a new evening-length dance theater work by choreographer John Heginbotham and author/illustrator Maira Kalman.
The Active Archive, which pairs BMCM+AC’s extensive collection with contemporary artists, curators and thinkers, introduces an artist’s residency program and includes the commission of new work. Active Archive will begin with an exhibition curated by interdisciplinary artist Martha McDonald, who will explore how objects and ideas from the museum’s collection, the Lake Eden campus, and the city of Asheville can be connected to reveal new dimensions of BMC’s story and how it relates to contemporary culture and art practice. McDonald’s project runs from September 29 through December 30.
“With the inclusion of performances and exhibitions such as Black Mountain Songs and the new Active Archive program, ReVIEWING not only ruminates on the history of BMC but also on how the ideas it fostered have taken root and flourished in the contemporary world,” says Arnal.
To learn more, including conference event locations and ticket pricing and purchasing information, visit blackmountaincollege.org.
