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Hemispheric Institute
@hemispheric.org
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We connect artists, scholars, and activists from across the Americas. Focusing on social justice, we research politically engaged performance and amplify it through gatherings, courses, publications, archives, and events. → hemisphericinstitute.org
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hemispheric.org
Join us Thursday, 11/13 @ 5 PM for “Visualizing Legacies and Futures” — an exhibition by The National Black Theatre, the Fall 2025 Arts Institution in Residence at the Hemispheric Institute.

📍 20 Cooper Square, 5th Floor Gallery Space
🕔 Opening Reception: 5–8 PM
🔗 RSVP: hemispheric.org/fa25-05
Text reads “Next Thursday – Visualizing Legacies and Futures: An Exhibition by The National Black Theatre – hemispheric.org/fa25-05.” Background shows performers onstage under red lighting. Text reads “Next Thursday – Thursday November 13, 5:00 PM.” Background shows a performer reaching upward in dramatic red stage light. Text reads “Visualizing Legacies and Futures reflects the historical and contemporary memory of the National Black Theatre… Hemispheric Institute, 20 Cooper Square, Fifth floor.” Background shows a performer singing or speaking mid-performance, bathed in red light. Text reads “Hemispheric Institute – hemispheric.org/fa25-05.” Background shows two performers raising their hands toward the sky under deep red lighting.
November 7, 2025 at 4:25 PM
hemispheric.org
Join us Thursday, 11/13 @ 6 PM for “National Black Theatre: Reflections from our Elders” — an intergenerational conversation honoring the artists, organizers, and cultural workers who laid the foundation for Black theatre.

📍 20 Cooper Square, 5th Floor
🕕 6–8 PM
🔗 RSVP: hemispheric.org/fa25-06
Text reads “Next Week — National Black Theatre: Reflections from our Elders — hemispheric.org/fa25-06.” Background shows a vintage photo of Black performers in Afrocentric attire holding drums and flags, smiling and dancing onstage. Text reads “Next Week — Thursday, November 13, 6:00 PM.” Background shows a performer in mid-movement with others behind them, dressed in traditional garments and bathed in warm brown tones. Text reads “This intergenerational conversation honors the artists, organizers, and cultural workers who laid the foundation for Black theater. Hemispheric Institute, 20 Cooper Square, Fifth floor.” Background shows drummers and singers in a lively stage performance with expressive faces. Text reads “Hemispheric Institute — hemispheric.org/fa25-06.” Background shows performers drumming and singing onstage in sepia lighting, evoking a sense of history and celebration.
November 7, 2025 at 4:23 PM
hemispheric.org
Join us Thursday, 11/06 and Friday 11/07 @ 7 PM for “Radical Goddesses,” a dance about three black Cuban women who fought for freedom. Created by Artist in Residence Beatrice Capote.

📍 TEATRO LATEA (107 Suffolk Street (2nd Floor) New York, NY 10002)
🔗 Tickets:hemispheric.org/fa25-04
A red-tinted promotional graphic featuring a dancer mid-movement, with the title “Radical Goddesses: A Dance Performance by Beatrice Capote” and a yellow label that reads “Next Month.” The link hemispheric.org/FA25-04 appears at the bottom. A red background with a yellow label reading “Next Month,” followed by event details that say: “Thursday & Friday, November 6 & 7, 7:00 PM.” A red promotional slide with text describing the performance as a dance work by Beatrice Capote honoring Black Cuban women who fought for freedom, along with the venue information for Teatro LATEA in New York and a list of contributors. A red background with the Hemispheric Institute logo and name in yellow, along with the website hemispheric.org/FA
October 24, 2025 at 12:01 PM
hemispheric.org
Join us Thursday 10/02 at 12:30 pm for Huracán Architectures: Artist Talk and Luncheon

📍 NYU Hemispheric Institute, 20 Cooper Square, 5th floor
🔗 RSVP: hemispheric.org/fa25-10

#HemiEvents #HemisphericInstitute #NYU #HuracánArchitectures #RubenNatal-SanMiguel
#Photography
A promotional graphic with a background of a damaged coastal building and debris under a cloudy sky. Text reads: “THIS WEEK. Huracán Architectures – Artist Talk and Luncheon. hemispheric.org/FA25-10. Event date graphic with a blue ocean background. Text reads: “THIS WEEK. Thursday October 2, 12:30 PM. Informational graphic over a blurred background of an abandoned seaside structure. Text reads: “Join us for a conversation with the artist Ruben Natal-San Miguel, moderated by Professor Ana Dopico. Hemispheric Institute, 20 Cooper Square, Fifth floor. Ruben Natal-San Miguel, Photographer. Closing graphic with a blue ocean background. A pale green circle with an “H” logo and text reads: “Hemispheric Institute. hemispheric.org/FA25-10.”
September 29, 2025 at 4:35 PM
hemispheric.org
Join us Thursday, 10/09 @ 7 PM for “Forgotten Paradise: A Roundtable on Water, Memory, and Survival,” a conversation on the legacies of water as a vessel for memory, loss, and survival.

📍Center for Ballet and Arts Studio, 16 Cooper Square, ground floor

🔗 RSVP: hemispheric.org/fa25-03
Promotional graphic with a pale green background showing two people in white garments standing on a beach holding large white cloths above their heads. Text reads: ‘NEXT WEEK’ and ‘Forgotten Paradise – A Roundtable on Water, Memory, and Survival’ with a link hemispheric.org/FA25-03. Minimalist pale green graphic with the text ‘NEXT WEEK’ and event details: ‘Thursday October 9, 7:00 PM’ in bold orange letters. Event details on a soft green background. Text announces: ‘Fall 2025 Artist in Residence Charlotte Brathwaite convenes a roundtable conversation on the legacies of water as a vessel for memory, loss, and survival.’ Location: Center for Ballet and the Arts Studio, 16 Cooper Square. Listed participants: Charlotte Brathwaite, Malick Welli, Ebony Noelle Golden, Dr. Wendell Marsh, Kamau Sadiki, and Anaïs Maviel. Simple pale green background with orange Hemispheric Institute logo and the text ‘Hemispheric Institute’ along with the link hemispheric.org/FW25-03.
September 29, 2025 at 12:42 PM
hemispheric.org
Join us TONIGHT 09/18 @ 6 pm for “I Was There”: Stories from the Elders of the House/Ball Community
📍 NYU Hemispheric Institute, 20 Cooper Square, 5th floor
🔗 RSVP: hemispheric.org/fa25-02

#HemiEvents #HemisphericInstitute #NYU #Ballroom #Pioneers
Dark-toned photo of two smiling people embracing, overlaid with light green text reading “TONIGHT” and below it the event title: “I Was There – Stories from the Elders of the House/Ball Community.” Simple dark background with centered pale green text that reads “TONIGHT” at the top and “Thursday September 18 6:00 PM” beneath it. Brown background with pale green text describing a conversation and oral history listening session with New York Ballroom Community pioneers, listing participants Tommie LaBeija, La Duchess Wong, Egypt LaBeija, José Disla Xtravaganza, and Kevin Ultra Omni (virtual), moderated by Victor Ultra Omni (Emory). Location given as NYU Hemispheric Institute, 20 Cooper Square, 5th floor. Dark background with pale green text reading “CO-SPONSORS” above two centered lines of text: “Center for Black Visual Culture” and “Hemispheric Institute,” followed by the URL “hemispheric.org/FW25-02.”
September 18, 2025 at 12:51 PM
hemispheric.org
The Hemispheric Institute is pleased to announce the beginning of a new academic year. We invite you to join us for forthcoming events and projects, and kindly ask that you mark your calendars.

#HemisphericInstitute #NYU #Events #FallSemester
Green background with a large pale green circle in the center featuring an “H” logo. Text around the circle reads “Fall 2025 Events Calendar.” Radiating outward are labels: “Staged Reading,” “Performance,” “Roundtable,” “Exhibition,” “Conversation,” and “Art.” On the right, part of a performer wearing a red headscarf and white shirt is visible. A performer in a red headscarf and white top holds a wooden stick, positioned on the left side of the image. Circular text on a green background reads: “Dear friends and colleagues, We are excited to begin a new academic year. We hope you will join us for these events during the coming months. Please mark your calendars.” Green background with a list of Fall 2025 Hemispheric Institute events in white text, each with a date on the right in yellow. Events include: • 20 Cooper Live! Provostial Centers and Institutes’ Open House (09/10) • “I Was There”: Stories from the Elders of the House/Ball Community (09/18) • Forgotten Paradise: A Roundtable on Water, Memory, and Survival (10/09) • Radical Goddesses: A Dance Performance by Beatrice Capote (11/06 and 11/07) • Visualizing Legacies and Futures — An Exhibition by The National Black Theatre (11/13) • National Black Theatre: Reflections from our Elders (11/13) • Soljourney Into Truth: Staging the Unpublished Manuscript (11/20) • Subterranean Infrastructures and (de)Colonial Dramaturgies in the Work of Magnet Theatre (12/02) • Reimagining Tragedy from Africa and the Global South (ReTAGS) (12/04). Solid green background with a pale green circle featuring the “H” logo and the words “Hemispheric Institute.” At the bottom, white text reads: “hemispheric.org/events.”
September 8, 2025 at 4:59 PM
hemispheric.org
This fall the Hemispheric Institute welcomes our Artist in Residence, Charlotte Brathwaite and our Art Institution in Residence, the National Black Theater.
Text graphic with bold white and orange background. It reads: “Fall 2025 Hemispheric Institute Fellows. This Fall semester, the Hemispheric Institute welcomes Charlotte Brathwaite as Artist in Residence and the National Black Theatre as Art Institution in Residence.” Sepia-toned photo overlaid with yellow. A person with short curly hair wearing a leather jacket looks toward the camera. Text at the bottom reads: “Charlotte Brathwaite, 2025 Artist in Residence.” Vintage sepia-toned photo of a group of performers on stage. One woman in the foreground smiles and gestures upward while others play drums and hold flags. Text at the bottom reads: “National Black Theatre, 2025 Art Institution in Residence.” Beige background with large faint outlined letters. A circular logo with an “H” appears above text reading: “Hemispheric Institute.” At the bottom, it says: “hemispheric.org/fellows.”
September 8, 2025 at 4:43 PM
hemispheric.org
Join us 09/10 from 3-6 PM for the 20 Cooper Live! Provostial Centers and Institutes’ Open House
📍 20 Cooper Square, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th floor
🔗 For more info: bit.ly/4n3v9k4

#HemiEvents #HemisphericInstitute #NYU #20CooperSquare
September 8, 2025 at 4:25 PM
hemispheric.org
Join us Thursday, 09/18 @ 6 pm for “I Was There”: Stories from the Elders of the House/Ball Community
📍 NYU Hemispheric Institute, 20 Cooper Square, 5th floor
🔗 RSVP: bit.ly/3Jgc9jR

#HemiEvents #HemisphericInstitute #NYU #Ballroom #HouseofOmni #HouseofXtravaganza #HouseofLaBeija #HouseofLaWong
Two people embrace and smile warmly in a dimly lit room. Overlaid text reads: “Next Week – ‘I Was There’: Stories from the Elders of the House/Ball Community.” Dark blue background with centered light text that reads: “Next Week – Thursday, September 18, 6:00 PM.” Event description text on a dark gradient background. It announces a conversation and oral history session with New York Ballroom Community pioneers, listing Tommie LaBeija, La Duchess Wong, Egypt LaBeija, José Disla Xtravaganza, and Kevin Ultra Omni (virtual). The event is moderated by Victor Ultra Omni (Emory) at NYU Hemispheric Institute, 20 Cooper Square, 5th floor. Dark gradient background with centered light text. It lists co-sponsors: Center for Black Visual Culture and Hemispheric Institute. A website link appears below: hemispheric.org/FW25-02.
September 8, 2025 at 3:15 PM
hemispheric.org
University of Cape Town scholars Mandla Mbothwe and Mark Fleishman discuss Reimagining Tragedy from Africa and the Global South Project (ReTAGS), a groundbreaking theatrical and research initiative. hemispheric.org/Fa25-09
Reimagining Tragedy from Africa and the Global South (ReTAGS) —— Thursday, December 4, 2025 | 5:00 PM —— NYU Hemispheric Institute 20 Cooper Square, 5th floor Conference Space
September 7, 2025 at 1:39 PM
hemispheric.org
South Africa’s Magnet Theatre creative leaders discuss the company’s history and its contemporary work, focusing on theater as cultural infrastructure. hemispheric.org/Fa25-08
Subterranean Infrastructures and (de)Colonial Dramaturgies in the Work of Magnet Theatre —— Tuesday, December 2, 2025 | 6:00 PM —— NYU Hemispheric Institute 20 Cooper Square, 5th floor Conference Space
September 7, 2025 at 1:38 PM
hemispheric.org
This staged reading revives Soljourney Into Truth, a work by National Black Theatre Founder Dr. Barbara Ann Teer, last performed in 1979. Recreated by contemporary artists, it honors the unique creative history of NBT. hemispheric.org/Fa25-07
Soljourney Into Truth: Staging the Unpublished Manuscript —— Thursday, November 20, 2025 | 7:00 PM —— NYU Hemispheric Institute 20 Cooper Square, 5th floor Conference Space
September 7, 2025 at 1:37 PM
hemispheric.org
This intergenerational conversation honors the artists, organizers, and cultural workers who laid the foundation for Black theater. hemispheric.org/Fa25-06
National Black Theatre: Reflections from our Elders —— Thursday, November 13, 2025 | 6:00 PM — 8:00 PM
September 7, 2025 at 1:35 PM
hemispheric.org
Visualizing Legacies and Futures reflects the historical and contemporary memory of the National Black Theatre, the Fall 2025 Arts Institution in Residence at the Hemispheric Institute.
Visualizing Legacies and Futures — An Exhibition by The National Black Theatre —— November 13, 2025 | 5:00 PM — 8:00 PM —— NYU Hemispheric Institute 20 Cooper Square, 5th floor Gallery Space
September 7, 2025 at 1:34 PM
hemispheric.org
Created and choreographed by Artist In Residence Beatrice Capote, Radical Goddesses is a newly commissioned dance work that awakens the legacies of three black Cuban women who fought for freedom in Cuba from the 17th to the 20th centuries.
Radical Goddesses: A Dance Performance by Beatrice Capote —— Friday, November 7, 2025 | 7:00 PM —— Teatro LATEA Clemente Soto Velez Cultural and Educational Center 107 Suffolk Street New York, NY 10002
September 7, 2025 at 1:33 PM
hemispheric.org
Forgotten Paradise: A Roundtable on Water, Memory, and Survival. Center for Ballet and the Arts Studio 16 Cooper Square, Ground Floor. Fall 2025 Artist in Residence Charlotte Brathwaite convenes a roundtable conversation on the legacies of water as a vessel for memory, loss, and survival. Confirmed
Forgotten Paradise: A Roundtable on Water, Memory, and Survival —— Thursday, October 9, 2025 | 6:00 PM —— Center for Ballet and the Arts Studio 16 Cooper Square, Ground Floor
September 7, 2025 at 1:32 PM
hemispheric.org
A conversation and oral history listening session with Pioneers and living legends from the New York Ballroom Community. Confirmed participants include: Tommie LaBeija, La Duchess Wong, Egypt LaBeija, José Disla Xtravaganza, Kevin Ultra Omni (virtual) hemispheric.org/Fa25-02
“I Was There”: Stories from the Elders of the House/Ball Community —— Thursday, September 18, 2025 | 6:00 PM —— NYU Hemispheric Institute 20 Cooper Square, 5th floor Conference Space
September 7, 2025 at 1:30 PM
hemispheric.org
Did you know that 20 Cooper Square is home to over a dozen Provostial Centers and Institutes at NYU? Join us for a dynamic open house on Wednesday, September 10, from 3-6 PM. Visit our current exhibitions and learn more about our groundbreaking research and programming. hemispheric.org/Fa25-01
20 Cooper Live! Provostial Centers and Institutes’ Open House —— Wednesday, September 10, 2025 | 3:00 PM — 6:00 PM —— NYU Centers and Institutes 20 Cooper Square
September 7, 2025 at 1:27 PM
hemispheric.org
Join us Friday, 5/2 @ 6pm for “An Elders’ Gathering & African Dance Circle: The History & Humble Beginnings of Afrofuturism from a Sankofa Lens”

📍 Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Plaza, 1368 Fulton St, Brooklyn – Multipurpose Room
🔗 RSVP: bit.ly/3EtkpLl

#HemiEvents #HemisphericInstitute #Sankofa
We invite you to join us for an exploration of Art, Movement, and Music, curated by the Hemispheric Institute’s first Folklorist in Residence, Aissatou Bey-Bara. This conversation and community dance circle reflects on the foundational influences and creative beginnings of African performance arts. It measures the long collective impact of African dance, visual arts, music and performance in a global diaspora – an impact that informs the Afro future. Panelists Aquah Tcherbu Beale, Januwa Moja, Amaniyea Payne, and Obara Wali Rahman King will discuss the power of the drum, of embodied performance, and the visual grandeur of African regalia. The panel will be followed by a movement workshop led by Amaniyea Payne and drummer Obayana Olumide. This program is the culminating event of the series, “We Not New To This, We True To This”, curated by Archivist Camille Lawrence, at the Hemispheric Institute. Camille will moderate the event, which will be documented and preserved in the Hemispheric Institute Digital Video Library (HIDVL).
April 28, 2025 at 5:50 PM
hemispheric.org
Join us Thursday, 5/1 @ 5pm for “Huracán Architectures” – A Photography Exhibition by Ruben Natal-San Miguel, Curated by Lisa Paravisini-Gebert

📍 NYU Hemispheric Institute, 20 Cooper Square, 5th floor
🔗 RSVP: bit.ly/42teVcH

#HemiEvents #HemisphericInstitute #NYU #PuertoRico #ClimateChange
“Huracán Architectures” is a new exhibition by Puerto Rican photographer Ruben Natal-San Miguel. For almost a decade, Natal-San Miguel has situated his practice at the intersection of the island’s devastating financial crisis and the deterioration and disappearance of its vernacular architecture as a result of neglect, mass migration, and the catastrophic weather events that define climate change in the region.
April 24, 2025 at 12:49 PM
hemispheric.org
Join us Thursday, 5/1 @ 10am for “Hurricane Worlds: Extinctions and Futures Symposium”

📍 NYU Hemispheric Institute, 20 Cooper Square, 5th floor — Conference Space
🔗 RSVP: bit.ly/3GdD1PW

#HemiEvents #HemisphericInstitute #NYU #HurricaneWorlds #Hurricanes #CrisisCapitalism #CommunalArchives
The “Hurricane Worlds: Extinctions and Futures” symposium will consider the forms of life that hurricanes decimate, what they inaugurate, the human and non-human displacements they produce, and how hurricane worlds augur the future of the planet. The event is part of “Hurricane Worlds,” a multi-year initiative led by Institute Director Ana Dopico that seeks to gather the epistemologies, world-making, and art-making of people who live and have lived in hurricane worlds.
April 24, 2025 at 12:39 PM
hemispheric.org
Join us tomorrow, 4/10 @ 7pm for “Blackface in Conversation: Racial Geographies and Transatlantic Entanglements”

📍 NYU Hemispheric Institute, 20 Cooper Square, 5th floor — Conference Space
🔗 RSVP: bit.ly/4l1pJpH

#HemiEvents #HemisphericInstitute #NYU #Blackface #SilviaAlbertSopale
April 9, 2025 at 3:19 PM
hemispheric.org
Join us tomorrow, 4/2 @ 6pm for “Parranda con Paranda: Women’s Voices from Puerto Rican and Garífuna Music Traditions”

📍 Bronx Music Hall – 438 East 163rd Street, Bronx, NY
🔗 RSVP: bit.ly/4aj3RRq

#HemiEvents #HemisphericInstitute #NYU #PuertoRico #Garifuna #AfroCaribbean #GarifunaMusic
April 1, 2025 at 9:33 PM
hemispheric.org
Join us today, 3/13 @ 5:30pm for “Movements for Reparations: Racial Justice, Climate Justice, and the Case of Haiti”

📍 NYU School of Law, 40 Washington Square South – Snow Dining Room, Vanderbilt Hall
🔗 RSVP: bit.ly/4hl8DQk

#HemiEvents #HemisphericInstitute #Haiti #ClimateJustice #RacialJustice
This year marks 200 years since France imposed an independence ransom on Haiti–which the country spent more than 100 years paying off–that has long grounded the country’s claim to reparations. At the same time, there is increasing recognition globally that colonialism and slavery have shaped the unequal, racist, and unjust impacts of the climate crisis in Haiti, the Caribbean, and around the world. Speakers will address how the unjust impacts of climate change–as outlined in the Global Justice Clinic and The Promise Institute for Human Rights’ recent report, Bay Kou Bliye, Pote Mak Sonje: Climate Injustice in Haiti and the Case for Reparations–may connect to and reinforce demands for reparations for colonialism, slavery, and ongoing racial injustice. They will also examine the possibilities and limitations of international law to advance reparations claims.
March 13, 2025 at 4:14 PM