Apollo Mainstage
11:00 AM – 11:05 AM Apollo Welcome, Michelle Ebanks
11:05 AM – 11:15 AM Opening Remarks, Kamilah Forbes and Ta-Nehisi Coates
11:15 AM – 12:00 PM
In Retrospect: Barry Jenkins
Ta-Nehisi Coates sits down with Academy Award winning filmmaker Barry Jenkins for a conversation about maintaining authenticity in storytelling, how cultural and creative agency manifests in Jenkins’ art making and what stories he wants to tell next.
Barry Jenkins has directed three highly acclaimed features, Medicine for Melancholy, Moonlight and If Beale Street Could Talk, as well as his award-winning television series The Underground Railroad. Most recently, Jenkins produced Charlotte Wells’ Aftersun and Raven Jackson’s All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt. Upcoming work includes the 2024 theatrical release of Mufasa: The Lion King.
12:05 PM – 12:20 PM
Performance: Peter Collins
12:25 PM – 12:40 PM
15 Minutes with Sage Adams
Sage Adams entered our collective consciousness when she became the creative director for multi award winning singer SZA at 19 years old. A gender non-conforming artist and curator, Adams uses their platform to intentionally create work that is meant for more than just vanity, but to also reflect the times.
12:45 PM – 1:45 PM
Reclaiming Black and Brown Identity in Visual Arts
Historically, visual art has played a significant role in perpetuating and upholding Eurocentric standards of beauty, aesthetics and morality. Black artists are flipping the script and reclaiming identity, upholding history and elevating Blackness globally. Artist Bisa Butler, Artist and Scholar Dr. Fahamu Pecou, and Brooklyn Museum of Art Sills Foundation Curator of African Art Ernestine White-Mifetu discuss practice, messaging and impact. Facilitator: Halima Taha
1:45 PM – 2:00 PM
Performance: Melanie Charles
2:00 PM – 2:45 PM
Lunch
2:45 PM – 3:10 PM
Sing! With Nia Drummond
3:15 PM – 3:30 PM
15 Minutes with Bridgit Antoinette Evans
Bridgit Antoinette Evans is an award-winning artist and thought leader in the narrative change field, innovating the use of pop culture strategies to advance social justice. CEO of the Pop Culture Collaborative, Bridgit shares her perspectives on Black Futures thinking as a social justice pathway and how it shows up in the world.
3:30 PM – 4:00 PM
Future Forward: Art, Activism & Politics
Chelsea Miller, Sumayyah Ali
4:15 PM – 5:00 PM
Comedic Satire
Diallo Riddle, Bashir Salahuddin, Terence Nance, Radha Blank
Facilitator:
5:00 PM – 5:15 PM
Break
5:15 PM – 5:35 PM
The Art of the Slay
Ballroom Demonstration
5:45 PM – 6:15 PM
Luvvie Ajayi Jones in Conversation with Eunique Jones Gibson
6:20 PM – 6:30 PM
Ta-Nehisi Coates Wrap Up
6:30 PM – 7:00 PM
Performance – Kamasi Washington and Ami Taf Ra
Apollo’s Master Artist In Residence Kamasi Washington returns to the Apollo on October 7th for a special presentation at Apollo’s Festival of Arts & Ideas. The Grammy and Emmy-nominated artist, composer and producer will debut a special collaboration project with the internationally renowned singer and songwriter Ami Taf Ra. This is the first project fully produced by Washington for another artist and was inspired by the mutual love and admiration shared with Ami Taf Ra of the great writer, poet, philosopher, and visual artist Khalil Gibran. They set his words to music to create a dialogue of sorts between Gibran’s two inspiring works “The Prophet” and “The Madman” and created this body of music using Gibran’s words as a guide through the universe of sound. This special world premiere at the Apollo will not only celebrate the 100 year anniversary of “The Prophet,” but will also be Ami Taf Ra’s first performance in New York City, Khalil Gibran’s home for the last 20 years of his life.
APOLLO SOUNDSTAGE: SEEN AND HEARD [AT] THE INTERSECTION
The Apollo Soundstage will serve as a gathering spot for conversation, reflection, recharge with food and beverages and surprise and delight. The programming on the stage will be more casual than the mainstage while still embodying the spirit of the [at] The Intersection curatorial prompts.
Saturday, October 7, 2023
Apollo Soundstage, 12:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Seen and Heard [at] The Intersection
12:30 PM – New Work and New Styles From Popular Poets & Writers
Felice Belle, Rachel Eliza Griffith and Bassey Ikpi
1:30 PM – Filmmaker/Short
2:30 PM – Social Dancing Sydnie L. Mosley Dances
