Monday, December 3, 2007

Friday, Dec. 7th 6-8pm: As the Veil Turns artist talk and video presentation

forward widely...


The Gallery at Harriet's Alter Ego proudly presents...

As the Veil Turns: An Artists Talk and Video Presentation with Nsenga Knight

Moderated by Eisa Nefertari Ulen

DATE: Friday, December 7th, 2007
TIME: 6-8pm


The Gallery at Harriet's Alter Ego
293 Flatbush Avenue
(between Prospect Place and St. Marks Place)
Brooklyn, New York 11217
astheveilturns.blogspot.com

Please join us for an evening with featured artist, Nsenga Knight, as she discusses her latest exhibition, As the Veil Turns: Female Pioneers of the American Muslim Community, with long-time journalist and novelist, Eisa Nefertari Ulen. There will also be a video presentation of As the Veil Turns, followed by a question and answer session.

About As the Veil Turns
Through photography, video, and oral history Nsenga Knight explores the spiritual and community lives of Black women who converted to Islam prior to 1975 and pioneered Brooklyn's oldest Muslim communities. As an interactive exhibition, As the Veil Turns grants its viewers access to the layered and historical, first hand accounts of these pioneering women.

About the Artist
Nsenga A. Knight earned a BA in Film from Howard University. As a lens-based artist, Nsenga's work oftentimes explores the ways people of African descent define and express themselves through the lens of Islam. Her work is introspective, and deals with personal realization, giving importance to ideas and images that are not usually given representation through any artistic medium. She has received grants from the Puffin Foundation LTD, Brooklyn Arts Council, New York State Council on the Arts Re-grant, and BAC NYC Department of Cultural Affairs Re-grant in support of her current work, As the Veil Turns ( http://www.astheveilturns.blogspot.com). She is a founding member of the She Shootin' Photography Collective. Last year She Shootin' Photography Collective was awarded with the Brooklyn Historical Society Public Perspectives Award and Lily Auchincloss Foundation grant. She has exhibited at the Cannes Film Festival, Yale University Critical Islamic Reflections, Art Gotham in Chelsea, and the Brooklyn Public Library . She has held artist residencies at Film/ Video Arts and Working Playground, and is currently a BCAT/ Rotunda Gallery Multimedia Artist in Residence.

About the Moderator
Eisa Nefertari Ulen teaches English at Hunter College in New York City, and her essays have been widely anthologized. Nominated by Essence magazine for a National Association of Black Journalists Award, she has contributed to numerous other publications, including The Washington Post, Ms., Health, and CreativeNonfiction.org. She is the recipient of a Frederick Douglass Creative Arts Center Fellowship for Young African American Fiction Writers and a Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center Fellowship. Eisa graduated from Sarah Lawrence College and earned a master's degree from Columbia University. She lives with her husband in Brooklyn. Her latest novel, Crystelle Mourning, is available at major bookstores.

As the Veil Turns: Female Pioneers of the American Muslim Community will be on view until December 31st, 2007.

Directions to The Gallery at Harriet's Alter Ego: Subway: 2 and 3 trains to Bergen and B or Q trains to 7th avenue.

Admission to the gallery is free open to the public Tuesday through Saturday from 12-8pm and Sundays 12-6pm.

3 comments:

www.EisaUlen.com said...

What an amazing night of discussion in community. Thank you for the wonderful opportunity to dialogue with such a gifted artist.

Laylah - you did an amazing job, as always.

Nsenga - Your work is stunning.

Everyone who came out - Thank you for powerful energy.

Eisa
www.EisaUlen.com

Laylah B. said...

Thank you Nsenga and Eisa (and everyone in attendence) for your great energy in creating one of the best events ever. We have certainly fueled the current art renaissance currently underway in Brooklyn. Much love!!

Laylah

Anonymous said...

Many thanks for all that you are contributing to our generation Nsenga. So many people wonder through life wishing they could make the slightest contribution to humanity and alhumdulillah, you have made some impressions by lending the platform to those who came before us. From that night even until now it still amazes me at the strength I feel in learning then and there history that is far too real and close to heart to go unheard. Much love and respect

-Ayesha