Campos-Pons and Leonard to Perform at National Portrait Gallery May 14

Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons and Neil Leonard will present a performance related to their Prospectus contribution, FeFa, in the Great Hall of the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC, at 4 p.m. on Saturday, May 14.

According to Magda and Neil:

“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.”