Slow Factory Continues Sustainability Education, Parson MFA Textiles Show Reimagines Textiles
NEW YORK — Social justice nonprofit Slow Factory will hold its “Planet Justice” festival May 19 to 20, in partnership with New York Live Arts to spotlight leaders in the arts and climate justice movement.
As part of its ongoing Study Hall series, which is an educational sustainability and social justice series, guests such as author of New York Times bestseller “So You Want to Talk About Race” Ijeoma Oluo, writer and lecturer Rachel Cargle and activists Xiuhtezcatl Martinez, Wawa Gatheru and Vandana Shiva, will convene at the Theater at New York Live Arts.
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On May 20, and for the first time, Slow Factory will debut a free public block party in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, with performances by Mykki Blanco, Pierre Kwenders, Xiutescalt Martinez and more. Hudson Valley community farm Sky High Farm and mycelium start-up Smallhold Mushrooms will also have a stake in the conversation, hosting workshops and other activities.
“We will be exploring clear case studies for addressing the importance of the arts in equity-driven works that create powerful systemic change. This is the work that Slow Factory is dedicated to funding and supporting,” executive director and founder Céline Semaan, said in a press statement, on the event programming.
Also this weekend, the MFA Textiles program at Parsons holds its 2023 graduation exhibition and open studio, spotlighting unthinkable resourcefulness of its grads. Student works incorporate recycled materials (even discarded pharmaceutical packaging), wildflower seeds, electrical wiring in a digitized activation as well as brand waste to reimagine textiles with creativity and longevity in mind.
The open studio for “Portal” is at the MFA Textiles studio on West 13th Street running through Monday.
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