Clark Art Institute, Live Performance

The Clark, the Williams College Museum of Art, and the Williams College Dance Department are co-organizing a new iteration of Tsedaye Makonnen’s Astral Sea series, which will culminate in an outdoor performance on the Clark’s grounds. Makonnen was the Futures Fellow at the Clark in the fall of 2022.

Through abstracted and collective movement, Refuge highlights the ongoing worldwide violence inflicted upon folks who are actively being displaced from their homes while emphasizing the possibilities of resilience and survival. Each performance is a cleansing, a shaking, a crashing—a catharsis and a signal. As the performers fall into a trance state, they open themselves to the spirits of those who have transitioned. Based in Black spiritual practices, this is about carrying all of the fracturedness of being Black across time and space, creating a feeling of resolve and healing.

Working with local Williams students and community members as performers, Makonnen’s intention is to consider Berkshire histories while creating contemporary connections with Black and immigrant communities.

Free. For accessibility questions, call 413 458 0524. Inclement weather moves the performance to October 5 at 4 pm.

Image: Bradley Wakoff