MoCADA Hosts Two New, Insightful Exhibitions.

In anticipation of the opening of the upcoming exhibition, Saying No: Reconciling Spirituality and Resistance in Indigenous Australian Art, MoCADA presents the Saying No Film Festival from July 21 to August 11, 2011.

We held our launch party on Thursday July 21, and it was super successful! Many of you came out to celebrate Australian Aboriginal culture as well as to experience Dandy Lion: An Articulation of a Redefined Black Masculine Identity, the current exhibition that is being displayed in the extended gallery space at MoCADA.  

In addition to the films and the exhibition, world renowned Aboriginal artists, Cameron McCarthy, delighted our audience with his colorful attire and the melodious sounds from his didgeridoo.  

Both Dandy Lion and The Film Festival are unique to the rest of MoCADA's collective body of exhibitions in that they focus on areas or subject matter of the African Diaspora that are not often discussed.

Dandy Lion is a photography exhibition of works created by ten artists exploring the new trend of Black Dandyism throughout the African Diaspora. Artists include Hanif Abdur-Rahim, Kwesi Abensetts, Laylah Amatullah Barrayn, Russell K. Frederick, Cassi Amanda Gibson, Akintola Hanif, Jamala Johns, Dexter R. Jones, Amanda Adams-Louis, Brandi Pettijohn.

Curator Shantrelle P. Lewis remarks, “Juxtaposed against an urban backdrop where the clothing of choice for many Black men consists of a pair of sagging pants, exposed boxers and white tees – the ‘hip-hop’ generation has produced another phenomenon of style – the New Age dandy.

This exhibition is an attempt on my part to challenge notions of popularized urban Black masculinity and the articulation of Black male identity. It references how the adornment and stylization of the Black male body is a self-directed move on the part of African Diasporan men.  A performance and embodiment of sophistication, Dandy Lions are themselves gentlemen of exceptional manners who consciously postulate what it means to be Black, masculine and full of ‘swag,’ not simply as performance but an embodiment of a lifestyle.”

Saying No, on the other hand, explores a culture that is thousands of miles away from Brooklyn and yet is still a vibrant, essential piece of the African Diaspora. Each of the films featured in the film festival were directed and created by Aboriginal peoples.  

The two-week film festival features documentaries, dramas and shorts that showcase stories reflecting the historical and contemporary issues facing Indigenous Australian people. Please note new dates for the upcoming exhibition, Saying No, on view mid-summer to fall, 2011.

To commemorate the closing of the film festival, we will also be showing Art + Soul: A Personal Journey Into the World of Aboriginal Art. Art + Soul is a powerful inside look into the traditional and modern day role of the arts in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. 

Additional Details Below:

Thursday, August 11 at 7:00 p.m.

Big Screen Plaza, between 29th and 30th Streets at 6th Avenue, New York City.

If you did not get to come out for the opening, then you are invited to stop by and view any of the films as well as the Dandy Lion exhibition until August 11, 2011. You can keep up with what's going on in Brooklyn and with MoCADA by checking out the MoCADA webpage as well as the MoCADA Facebook Fan Page.