Final days of Newcomb Art Museum’s ‘Transcommunality’; new exhibition with Prospect New Orleans announced
Newcomb Art Museum, located in the Woldenberg Art Center on Tulane’s uptown campus, invites the community to drop by its galleries on Friday, Oct. 1 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday, Oct. 2, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. to enjoy the final days of Laura Anderson Barbata: Transcommunality. The exhibition is free and open for all to visit; proof of vaccination or a negative PCR test is required for entry.
Originally opened to Tulane students, staff, and faculty on Jan. 15 and reopened to the public on May 22, Anderson Barbata’s Transcommunality focuses on five collaborations that the artist has made across the Americas and presents them together for the first time. Though varying in process, tradition and message — each of these collaborative projects emphasizes Anderson Barbata’s understanding of art as a system of shared practical actions that has the capacity to increase communication around topics of cultural diversity and to create sites of human connection or belonging.
Centered on issues of cultural diversity and sustainability, Anderson Barbata’s process-driven practices blend political activism, street theater, sculpture and arts education and engage a wide variety of platforms and geographies. Transcommunality offers a space to contemplate ritual, folklore and impact of the natural environment on culture. It equally centers oral histories and the interdisciplinary academic thought that shapes Anderson Barbata’s engaging creations. Celebrating the human experience, Anderson Barbata’s globally diverse collaborators consciously revive intangible cultural heritage and resist homogenization by deploying skills inherent to the survival of their local expressions. Performance documentation and elaborate garments throughout the museum invite visitors to connect with the traditions of West Africa, the Amazon, Mexico and the Caribbean, while exploring visual narratives.
In honor of the exhibition closing, a free tour will take place at noon on Saturday, Oct. 2; those who are interested are asked to email tfriel@tulane.edu to reserve their spot for the tour.
Following the close ofTranscommunality, Newcomb Art Museum, in participation with Prospect New Orleans, will open its new exhibition, Prospect.5: Yesterday we said tomorrow. The exhibition will open across New Orleans over the course of three weekends. The initial wave of openings, including the opening at the museum, will take place on Oct. 23 and will be on view through Jan. 23, 2022.
The show at Newcomb Art Museum features a presentation of work by acclaimed sculptor Barbara Chase-Ribaud, a touchstone for the exhibition, and new work by New Orleans-based Ron Bechet, Mimi Lauter, Naudline Pierre, and a 40-foot new mural piece by collage artist Elliott Hundley.
Prospect is a citywide contemporary art triennial and the only exhibition of its kind with a decade-long track record. Every three years, Prospect invites artists from around the world to create projects in a wide variety of culturally significant venues spread throughout New Orleans. For residents and visitors alike, Prospect is an invitation to experience the city through the eyes of artists. For more information, visit ProspectNewOrleans.org or follow @prospect_nola.
