The event will feature two live performances of Belly of the Wail: A Score, a musical composition conceived by Smith, composer Tariq Al-Sabir, and vocalist and artist Freddie June. Within Beneath Tongues, the triadic composition functions as another text, a B-side to the exhibition’s forthcoming catalogue, that draws from principles of improvisation and looping to create capaciousness. Its three segments (“The Storm,” “The Belly” and “The Reemergence”) consist of a freedom song written by Freddie June that is continuously stretched and reshaped. The score looks to the essence of wailing, shouting, screaming, inhaling and exhaling, “those things we do with the breath,” writes Smith, that make the unspeakable corporeal, that make life rather than noise. June and Al-Sabir will be accompanied by a trio of vocalists and an ensemble of musicians. Two performances of the score will bookend a series of readings from Duets, a newly published booklet of seven texts commissioned for Beneath Tongues. Featured writers Atheel Elmalik and Rachell Morillo will read their contributions alongside the artworks that inspired their words. Schedule of events: 4PM: Opening performance of Belly of the Wail: A Score 5PM: Selected readings from Duets with Atheel Elmalik, Rachell Morillo and Sable Elyse Smith
New York City, NY; NYC