Despite an exciting lineup, including multi-instrumentalist Angélica Negrón and electronic artist Sokio, it’s not a music festival. And even though, there’s an emphasis on art, it’s not just about visual artists. Instead, New Latin Wave is a New York-based event that’s a cross between a symposium and a festival focused on showcasing the Latinx and Latin American communities’ contributions to art, music, film, and literature. Or as the festival excellently puts it, New Latin Wave is an introduction to “what’s happening in the Latinx cultural multiverse.” On October 22, the festival – which made its debut in 2016 – will host an engaging one-day event dedicated to exploring our multifaceted identity.
“When we started last year, the purpose was to find, [or rather to] create an instance where we could showcase Latino work in the field of art,” New Latin Wave Director Mauricio Díaz, aka Sokio, told Remezcla in a phone interview. “The purpose is the same [this year]. We’re saying we are here and we are an active part of the community. We’re bringing all these components of our identity into American society, and this is not news, this has been happening for a long time.”
Though it may sound as if Sokio’s making commentary about our current political environment – one that has seen Latinos and other communities of colors repeatedly maligned – he says New Latin Wave is simply about centering Latinx voices. And this is crucial because as our population grows (we currently account for about 17 percent of the US population, and 19 percent in the state of NY), we need to have spaces that foster conversations about our varied experiences and that shatter stereotypes imposed on us.
Through the book and zine fair, literature will serve as an entry point to this year’s festival. But under the same roof, Chef Joaquin Baca will serve delicious food, and physicist Cristían Huepe and investigative journalist Miguel Paz will stage a presentation revolving around the virality of fake news.
Currently, festival organizers are looking for artists interested in participating in the second edition of the Rotative Repository of Latin American Video Art: Single Channel. Inspired by a Latin American cinema program from the 1960s to the 1980s where people would go to the theater and watch a few movies back to back, the festival is looking to put together two hours of footage from about 10 to 15 different artists. This year’s theme is displacement and relocation. Latin American artists can submit their entries here until September 1.
The festival may revolve around our Latinidad, but it’s really for everyone. “What these different artists are making is not made exclusively for other Latin Americans,” Soko said. “It’s for a broader audience, so it would be great to have people from all over the place visiting and experiencing the New Latin Wave 2017.”
New Latin Wave takes place from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on October 22 at the Brooklyn Bazaar, 150 Greenpoint Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11222. Tickets are $15 in advance, and $20 at the door. Learn more here.
