Tulane University

Prytania Theatre to premiere documentary Out of Chaos: An Artist's Journey in Haiti

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The New Orleans Film Society, in collaboration with the Cuban and Caribbean Studies Institute and Stone Center for Latin American Studies, is proud to announce the premiere of the documentary Out of Chaos: An Artist’s Journey in Haiti (Sorti du Chaos: un voyage d’artiste á Haiti) on Saturday, February 16, at the Prytania Theatre. The film will be shown in English and French, with French subtitles.

In this documentary, director and transmedia artist Pascal Giacomini spends a month in Port-au-Prince working with a group of Vodou practitioners and artists to collectively create large metal sculptures from recycled materials sourced from the trash on the streets. Their work, reborn out of rubble and transformed into something beautiful, mirrors the artist‘€™s own lively portrait of Haiti. With detours into a Voudo ceremony and a riotous Carnival celebration, the film focuses its lens on the island‘€™s celebrated artists, revealing a truly indestructible spirit.

Pascal Giacomini will be in attendance. Giacomini is an accomplished metal sculptor, functional artist, furniture designer and veteran photographer. Using metal, found objects, liquid resin, glass, wood, bronze and other materials, he creates indoor and large-scale outdoor sculptures, which have been exhibited, along with his photography, in public settings and museums throughout Southern California. The native of Paris, France, has been living and working in Hollywood, California, for over 30 years.

Presented in partnership with Krewe du Karnaval.

16th Annual Tulane Maya Symposium: The Ancient Maya and Collapse

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The Middle American Research Institute, in collaboration with Tulane’s Stone Center for Latin American Studies, New Orleans Museum of Art, and Mexican Consulate in New Orleans, is proud to announce the 16th Annual Tulane Maya Symposium beginning on Thursday, February 14, and concluding on Sunday, February 17, 2019. This year’s conference The Center Could Not Hold: The Ancient Maya and Collapse will explore recent developments in Maya studies as they relate to the broader topic of collapse. Speakers and workshops will address the issue of political decline over the span of ancient Maya prehistory. These researchers will help us address the collapse in a multi-disciplinary fashion and bring attention to recent research in the region.

Registration is now open!

On Friday, February 15, at 6:00 PM, the keynote address will be given by Jeremy A. Sabloff, External Professor of the Santa Fe Institute and Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of Anthropology, Emeritus, of the University of Pennsylvania. In his talk Is ‘€œCollapse‘€ a Useful Term in Understanding Pre-Columbian Maya History?, Dr. Sabloff considers how the term ‘€œcollapse‘€ has, in recent years, become quite controversial, and argues that there is good reason to question the utility of this loaded word going forward. This keynote talk will focus on understandings of the late 8th and early 9th centuries CE cultural processes and environmental events in the Maya Lowlands that culminated in what has often been seen as a political collapse. Moreover, the talk will examine whether such understanding can help illuminate comparable trends at other times in Maya history and in other complex societies in general.

Since 2002, the Middle American Research Institute of Tulane University has hosted a weekend of talks and workshops dedicated to the study of the Maya civilization of Mexico and Central America. This yearly meeting has called upon scholars from a wide spectrum of specialties including archaeology, art history, cultural anthropology, epigraphy, history, and linguistics to elucidate the many facets of this fascinating Mesoamerican culture. In developing a broad approach to the subject matter, the conference aims to draw the interest of a wide ranging group of participants from the expert to the beginner.

To view the schedule, registration, and additional information, please visit the Tulane Maya Symposium website.

CANCELED 2019 Maya Symposium Educator Workshop

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The Stone Center for Latin American Studies, in collaboration with the Middle American Research Institute, will host an educator workshop in conjunction with the 16th Annual Tulane Maya Symposium on Sunday, February 17, 2019. The K-12 Educator Workshop will focus on a basic introduction to Maya archaeology and cultural heritage of the Maya today. The workshop includes a tour of the Middle American Research Institute’s main gallery Faces of the Maya: Profiles in Continuity and Resilience.

Registration for educators is now available. The registration fee includes the tour of the main gallery, the educator workshop, and lunch.

The 16th Annual Tulane Maya Symposium The Center Could Not Hold: The Ancient Maya and Collapse will explore recent developments in Maya studies as they relate to the broader topic of collapse. Speakers and workshops will address the issue of political decline over the span of ancient Maya prehistory. These researchers will help us address the collapse in a multi-disciplinary fashion and bring attention to recent research in the region. Since 2002, the Middle American Research Institute of Tulane University has hosted a weekend of talks and workshops dedicated to the study of the Maya civilization of Mexico and Central America. This yearly meeting has called upon scholars from a wide spectrum of specialties including archaeology, art history, cultural anthropology, epigraphy, history, and linguistics to elucidate the many facets of this fascinating Mesoamerican culture. In developing a broad approach to the subject matter, the conference aims to draw the interest of a wide ranging group of participants from the expert to the beginner.

TEACHER WORKSHOP SCHEDULE

Sunday, February 17, 2019

11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Tour of the MARI Main Gallery

12:00 PM
Lunch

1:45 PM – 3:15 PM
Introduction to Maya Archaeology

3:30 PM – 5:00 PM
Maya Cultural Heritage Management

For more information about the symposium, visit the Tulane Maya Symposium homepage.

The Liberace of Lucha Libre: An Evening with American-born Mexican luchador Cassandro

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Join the New Orleans Center for the Gulf South, the Newcomb Art Museum, Amigos de los Amigos, and krewedelusion in welcoming American-born Mexican luchador Saúl Armendáriz, or Cassandro, on Wednesday, February 20, 7:00 PM, in the Freeman Auditorium. Cassandro will speak about his personal story of growing up and training as a lucha libre in México. He became one of the first openly gay exóticos (a wrestler who dresses in a flamboyant style), and later he had the honor of being the first exótico to win a championship title.

Cassandro will speak about how he negotiated his gay identity and overcame adversity in the world of professional Mexican wrestling. He will also share his experiences outside of wrestling, as an LGBTQ activist, circuit speaker, and most recently as the subject of a feature documentary, Cassandro, The Exótico which received critical acclaim at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2018.

This event is free and open to the public. Parader and performer Antonio Garza will moderate.

For more information contact: New Orleans Center for the Gulf South via email dfrazier@tulane.edu, by phone (504-314-2889), or visit the event website.

Sponsored by: Newcomb Art Museum, Amigos de los Amigos, krewedelusion, and The New Orleans Center for the Gulf South.

In Celebration of Black History Month and Carnaval: African and indigenous presence in Boricua culture

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In celebration of Black History Month, the New Orleans Jazz Museum is proud to kick off Mardi Gras Mambo with a lecture by curatorial assistant Ilyanette M. Bernabel entitled Carnaval: The African and Indigenous Presence in Boricua Culture on Friday, February 22, 2019, 2:00 – 3:00 PM. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Bernabel will be presenting the research of her exhibition Carnival in Puerto Rico: Connections to the Homeland. The exhibition explores carnival traditions in Puerto Rico and its connection to Africa. This lecture will focus on the Carnival masked characters called Vejigantes, their unique cultural history from Spain to the Caribbean island, and the infamous musical and dance styles of bomba y plena. The goal of the lecture is to bring awareness to the similarities of two cultures as they relate to the spiritual aspect of masking.

The lecture will be followed by a performance from The Bombazo Dance Company.

Photo: Vejigante mask (made out of coconut and branches) worn for Carnival in Loiza, Puerto Rico.

Master class and panel discussion of Azul at the Southern Rep Theatre

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The Cuban and Caribbean Studies Institute at Tulane University, in collaboration with the Southern Rep Theatre, are proud to announce two events in celebration of the reopening of the Southern Rep Theatre and the spring premiere of the play Azul written by Christina Quintana, a New York-based writer with Cuban and Louisiana roots, and Estefanía Fadul, a Colombian-born, New Hampshire-raised, New York City-based director and producer. In this evocative new play, lifelong New Yorker Zelia struggles to center herself after the loss of her Cuban-born mother. As Zelia digs into her mother’s legacy, she learns of her tía-abuela, the great-aunt who remained in Cuba for the love of another woman. Echoes of the past inform Zelia’s own relationship with her wife and her struggle to place herself between worlds. A Master Class with Christina Quintana will take place on Friday, March 15, 2019 at 3:30 PM. There will also be a Panel Discussion before the play at the Southern Rep Theatre on Saturday, April 6, 2019.

The 13,000-square-foot former St. Rose de Lima Church on Bayou Road has given Southern Rep Theatre a permanent home, something it had lost since leaving Canal Place. The history of the project and more information about the theatre space may be found in the New Orleans Advocate article Southern Rep finds new home in former church.

Southern Rep Theatre will be showing Azul beginning March 27 continuing through April 14, 2019. Group tickets will be available for classes or student organizations. Tickets will be available at a reduced price for students, educators and young professionals at the following prices:

• All student rush tickets are $10 at the door with ID, plus box office fees = $13 (subject to availability)
• All teacher tickets are available in advance or at the door (subject to availability) for $25 plus fees
• All under-35 tickets (“young professionals”) are available in advance or at the door (subject to availability) for $25 plus fees

For more information about tickets, please contact Kaylene Torregrossa, Patron Services Coordinator at boxoffice@southernrep.com.

Presented in partnership with the Saints & Sinners Literary Festival, a project of the Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival