When people from out of town ask me about the first arts-dedicated space they should visit in Albuquerque, I immediately recommend 516 ARTS. As an innovative, nonprofit contemporary arts organization, operating a museum-style gallery in the center of Downtown Albuquerque, it is a marvelous, must-see arts institution.
516 ARTS promotional photo
Case-in-point the forthcoming exhibit, Sounding: An Exhibition in Five Parts.
Working with the Poeh Cultural Center & Museum in Pojoaque, NM, Soundings: An Exhibition in Five Parts is bound to be an engaging and enlightening experience.
“Curated by Candice Hopkins and Dylan Robinson, Soundings: An Exhibition in Five Parts features newly commissioned scores, performances, videos, sculptures and sound by Indigenous and other artists who respond to the question, ‘How can a score be a call and tool for decolonization?’,” the press release states.
Concerning the scores the release continues, “Unfolding in a sequence of five parts, the scores take the form of beadwork, videos, objects, graphic notation, historical belongings, and written instructions. During the exhibition, the scores are activated at specific moments by musicians, dancers, performers and members of the public gradually filling the gallery and surrounding public spaces with sound and action.”
Poeh Cultural Center. Credit: New Mexico Tourinsm
Inaugural events will include two grand openings. On Friday, July 11, from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Poeh Cultural Center & Museum, exhibiting artist Tania Willard’s installation and graphic score, Surrounded/Surrounding, will be activated in a communal gathering featuring dancer Than Povi Martinez and a string-based sound artist.
On Saturday, July 12, from 6 to 8 p.m. at 516 ARTS, includes a performative event of Greg Staats’ piece, Do’-gah - I don’t know [shrugging soldiers], hosted by curator Olivia Amaya Ortiz.
For more information, visit 516 ARTS at https://516arts.org.
Brian C. Nixon, Ph.D., is Chief Academic Officer and professor at Veritas International University in Albuquerque. As a writer, musician, and artist, his interests surround the philosophical transcendentals: truth, beauty, and goodness. You can contact Brian via his Bandcamp email address: https://briancharlesnixon.bandcamp.com
