Founded in 2010 to celebrate the impact of the African Diaspora on New York, Black Gotham Experience (BGX) is honored to present Council 400, an eight-week engagement commemorating the African Diaspora’s impact on the territory of New York City from 1624 to 2024 from October 10th to November 30th. This investigation will be documented creating an archive for future generations. Activities curated by Black Gotham Experience will take place primarily at BGX Gallery in the Seaport including a group exhibition, talks, wellness workshops, film screenings, and award-winning historical walks.
COUNCIL 400 Exhibition
Thursday October 24th to November 30th
Gallery Hours | Thursday – Saturday 12pm – 6pm
The COUNCIL 400 Exhibition commemorates the African Diaspora’s impact on the territory of New York City from the autumn of 1624 to the autumn of 2024. This is an invitation for scholars, creatives, and healers to meet and remember together at a port that is pivotal to the stories from the colonial era to the present. There will be an oral history station in the exhibition for scholars, creatives, and eclectic minds to remember together; leaving a mark at this historic moment for future generations.
Asmaa Amadou
Aura Olamide Soleil
Barrington Brissett
Chris Cook
Ingrid Yuzly Mathurin
Kadiatou Ware
Kamau Ware
Madjeen Isaac
Sharayna Ashanti Christmas
Watson Mere
Nerdy Thursdays
Our longest running program that gathers people nerdy about a range of topics. This fall selection of Nerdy Thursdays we will center Lorraine Hansberry so pick up a copy of Looking for Lorraine by Imani Perry and pull up.
Office Hours
A new program taking place on Fridays where we host a conversations with pedagogues on themes about the African Diaspora.
This is the final Office Hours event for Council 400 … RSVP below
November 22 | 7pm to 9pm
“Plain Sight” is a conversation with Marina Caruso and Zak Risinger from the South Street Seaport Museum and Rashid Littlejohn from Black Gotham Experience about critical cataloguing, a practice which involves identifying and addressing harmful language, stereotypes, and outdated references in their collections and present materials responsible for research and discovery.
Reflections
Reflections are wellness sessions that engage the body archive, intended to engage participants in ancestral healing.
There are two more Reflection event for Council 400 … RSVP below
November 23 | 1pm to 5pm
An Alchemical Gathering of Creativity, Reflection, and Activations hosted by Kamau Z. Akabueze of THE ÅŁïEN SCõÖL, featuring an artist workshop by Ingrid Mathurin and a tasting from Brooklyn Tea. Together we will ponder on the centuries of lessons breathing in our bodies – blending history, creativity, and ritual.
After this event we will go to The Laundromat Project for the 6pm Projections event.
November 30 | 3pm to 5pm
Dream Work w/ Aura Soleil, at the intersection of dreamwork, manifestation and Yoga philosophy. Many indigenious cultures believe that dreams hold information for our waking lives and can provide the conditions to connect with loved ones, guides, ancestors and even God. Together, we’ll explore the relationship between our NYC memories, current lived experiences and the dreams we’re individually and collectively ready to transform into reality. Expect to learn the basics of a fulfilling dream practice and how to create from a subconscious place of empowerment.
After this workshop, we will have the exhibition closing of COUNCIL 400.
Projections
Projections are evenings of cinema featuring works by Black filmmakers that expand awareness based on matters that impact the African Diaspora.
Our final Projections event of Council 400 …
November 23 | 6pm – 9pm
The Laundromat Project 1476 Fulton St. BK, NY 11216
The Cost of Inheritance
FIlm screening and discussion about the national and historic fight for reparations for Black Americans, an America ReFramed special, exploring the complex issue of reparations in the U.S. using a thoughtful approach to history, historical injustices, systemic inequities, and critical dialogue on racial conciliation.
Following the film, there will be a panel with the filmmaker Yoruba Richen, Kevin Powell, and L Joy Williams; moderated by Black Gotham Experience founder, Kamau Ware.
About Black Gotham Experience
Black Gotham Experience (BGX) is a creative intervention that elevates the impact of the African Diaspora. We establish space to revisit untold and suppressed stories through a practice that invites people to walk, talk, and reimagine the past to expand public consciousness. We know that history is not an unbiased collection of records but a cycle of events that we participate in collectively. We are creatives building intentional experiences at the intersection of aesthetics and scholarship to learn, heal, and remember together.
Our co-presenting partners are the South Street Seaport Museum and Big City Tourism.