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Tue, Sep 26, 2023
Black Forager Alexis Nikole Nelson, Exhibiting Artist Jumana Manna, and Orlando Zane Hunter, Jr. and Ricarrdo Valentine of Brother(hood) Dance! to join a panel moderated by Dr. Mary Rodriguez
In connection with the autumn 2023 exhibition, Jumana Manna: Break, Take, Erase, Tally, the 2023 Director’s Dialogue on Art and Social Change at the Wexner Center for the Arts focuses on the creative future of food. The program takes place Tuesday, November 14 at 6 PM and will livestream to ticketholders on Vimeo.
Manna will be joined in this dialogue by Alexis Nikole Nelson, also known as internet phenomenon Black Forager; and Orlando Zane Hunter, Jr. and Ricarrdo Valentine of Brother(hood) Dance! The panel will be moderated by Mary Rodriguez, assistant professor in Ohio State’s Department of Agricultural Communication, Education and Leadership, an expert and scholar in community development and developing community food security.
Together, they’ll consider how communities can sustainably, efficiently, and ethically source food; the barriers and political structures that surround food access, food security, and sovereignty; and nutrition in both local communities and those abroad.
An audience Q&A will follow the talk and online viewers will be able to submit questions for the panelists by texting the Wex hotline at (614) 813-3416.
The talk is free for all, but reservations are required to secure a ticket for the in-person dialogue. Access to the talk on Vimeo requires an email address.
For more information, visit wexarts.org or call 614-292-3535.
Jumana Manna is a visual artist and filmmaker whose work explores how power is articulated, focusing on the body, land, and materiality in relation to colonial inheritances and histories of place. Organized by MoMA PS1, Manna’s solo exhibition Break, Take, Erase, Tally is on view at the Wex through December 30.
She has exhibited at venues including the Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive, California; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Antwerp (M HKA) in Belgium; Mercer Union, Toronto; and SculptureCenter, New York, among others. Manna’s work is held in public and private collections internationally, including the Museum of Modern Art, New York; MCA Chicago; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Carré d’art, Nîmes, France; National Museum, Oslo, Norway; and Sharjah Art Foundation, United Arab Emirates. Learn more on Manna’s website.
Alexis Nikole Nelson is a forager and an outdoor educator. She invites all to come on the foraging journey of collecting, identifying, and eating wild food.
Nelson reframes the world of food, asking us to consider tastefully satiating and environmentally sustainable choices. She also peels back historical layers on traditionally repressed African American and Indigenous food traditions.
While lighthearted in delivery, Nelson’s content has empowered those living in food deserts with greater self-sufficiency.
Nelson received the James Beard Award for Best Social Media Account in 2022 and was chosen for both the Forbes “30 Under 30” list in 2022 and Fortune magazine’s “Creator 25” list in 2021, as well as being recognized as a TikTok Tastemaker. Learn more on Nelson’s YouTube Channel or by following her on TikTok and Instagram.
Brother(hood) Dance! is a 2020 Bessies Honoree of the NY Dance and Performance Awards, The Bessies for Afro/Solo/Man, which was presented at the Wex in February 2023.
They are an interdisciplinary duo that seeks to inform its audiences on the socio-political and environmental injustices from a global perspective, bringing clarity to the same-gender-loving African American experience in the 21st century. Brother(hood) Dance! was formed in April 2014 as a duo that researches, creates, and performs dances of freedom by Orlando Zane Hunter, Jr. and Ricarrdo Valentine.
They are pursuing an MFA in Dance with a concentration in Agriculture and Technology at The Ohio State University. More information about their work is available on the Brotherhood Dance! Website.
Moderator Dr. Mary Rodriguez is an assistant professor of Community Leadership in Ohio State’s Department of Agricultural Communication, Education, and Leadership who works in addressing household food insecurity and resilience. She approaches her research by examining the role of women in the household and explores the interaction between the community social system and individual's decision making. Mary works mostly in developing nations and with New American populations stateside.
Since 2006, the center's annual Director's Dialogues have explored social justice, identity politics, climate change, and health care, among other issues, with such leading cultural and academic figures as Ann Hamilton, Wil Haygood, Baseera Kahn, Kerry James Marshall, Paul D. Miller (aka DJ Spooky), Jason Moran, Anna Deavere Smith, Lynne Tillman, and Patricia Williams.
Arrangements for the appearance of Alexis Nikole Nelson made through UTA Speakers, New York, NY
