Lead Photo: Photo by Catalina Kulczar. Courtesy New Latin Wave
Photo by Catalina Kulczar. Courtesy New Latin Wave
Read more
Among New York City’s crowded art landscape, few entities are lifting local Latinx voices and work as diligently as New Latin Wave. The Brooklyn-based multidisciplinary art festival is entering its third year with another stellar line-up of thought-provoking art pieces, poignant conversations and forward-thinking music by Latinx artists and organizers, once again hosted at Greenpoint landmark Brooklyn Bazaar.
Doubling down on their commitment to community building, New Latin Wave announced via press release they are partnering with PRIMA Fund for “a raffle of prizes donated by our partners / NLW community where 100% of proceeds will benefit PRIMA, helping artists in Puerto Rico post-Hurricane Maria.” Several of the festival’s speakers and performers will also center conversations on migration and Afro-Latinx identity and most music, media and video art exhibits are being curated and led by women. As in past editions, New Latin Wave will feature a Book and Zine fair in Brooklyn Bazaar’s main ballroom with new additions like Chilean pop-up by La Sureña, a live drawing installation by Ecuadorian artist Juan Miguel Marín and an after party blow out presided over by queen of the decks, DJ Bembona.
To help you navigate this year’s crowded New Latin Wave schedule and its unmissable performances and exhibits, we’ve put together a list of 5 features worth checking out on your weekend venture to North Brooklyn. The talent is high and the tickets are cheap, but most of all, this festival is an important reminder of why supporting local artists and initiatives normalizes Latinx perspectives in an oft-segregated art world.
New Latin Wave kicks off on Sunday, September 30th at 11 am. Buy tickets here.
DJ Bembona x Radio Menea Afro-Latinidad Discussion
Veronica Bayetti Flores and Miriam Zoila Pérez of bilingual Latinx music podcast Radio Menea will be recording a live conversation on the importance of Afro-Latinx visibility in media and popular culture with Panamanian-Puerto Rican DJ and activist Bembona. In the past, Remezcla has spotlighted the trio for their commitment to activism and community work, calling Radio Menea “the woke Latinx music podcast you should be listening to” and highlighting how Bembona is “spinning the soundtrack to Latinx social movements.” The live conversation will be held at 3 pm, reaffirming New Latin Wave as an important space for journalism and public dialogue before Bembona sets off the after party at 6 pm.
New Music Program Curated by Angélica Negrón (Balún)
Composer, avant-garde musician and Balún front woman Angélica Negrón has curated a program of pieces by emerging composers to be performed in conjunction with adventurous string outfit PUBLIQuartet. The selected pieces will represent a far-reaching array of Latinx perspectives from composers as young as 11 years old, with evocative work inspired by the disappeared girls from Juarez, Andean huaynos, family road trips and more. The concert starts at 5 pm and will also be accompanied by immersive visuals from Chilean artist Andrea Wolf.
Based on the Radical Women: Latin American Art 1960-1985 exhibit that has been touring the country over the past year, Radical Women: Remix will include videos from the original exhibit in addition to more recent pieces by artists like Lenora de Barros (Brazil), Poli Marichal (Puerto Rico) and María Evelia Marmolejo (Colombia). Carmen Hermo of the Brooklyn Museum has curated the remixed exhibit and videos will be screened on a loop, all day long in two different rooms at Brooklyn Bazaar.
Efraín Rosas (La Mecánica Popular) Live Art Performance
2018 has been a stellar year for La Mecánica Popular, releasing their expansive rhythmic experiment Rozas Cruz over the spring to wide acclaim. Now, the band’s mastermind Efraín Rozas is gearing up to present “Robot, Teach Us To Pray, ” a performance piece colliding his work in music and software development by incorporating a robotic drum kit and percussive dancing. The Brooklyn-based Peruvian artist will perform “Robot” at 4 pm, promising to be one of New Latin Wave’s cerebral high points.
In these turbulent social and political times, stories of migration are becoming increasingly necessary tools for beating back cultural erasure. Tortilla Stories, a documentary art piece about migration and identity created by Melissa Orozco and sound designer Enrique García-Alcalá, will share collected stories through a performance using handmade tortillas and turntables. The challenging yet poignant work is part of the festival’s daylong media art exhibit and an essential stop on your New Latin Wave itinerary.
