#HiHealth2021
Spring 2021
In March 2020, New York City went on PAUSE in response to the onset of COVID-19. As many arts and theater organizations did, so did Hi-ARTS. A year passed and everything had changed. A year of uncertainty for artists. A year of closed offices and performance spaces at El Barrio’s Artspace POS109. A year since everything paused and we began pivoting with the aim to fulfill our mission in new ways and in response to the times. If there is one thing that we learned for certain, it was that self-care and health are of paramount importance.
#HiHealth2021 was a robust virtual program centered around self-care and health throughout the month of March 2021, one year after New York City went on PAUSE. During these 4 weeks, Hi-ARTS engaged staff, community, and artists in virtual programming centered around health and wellness as it relates to BIPOC communities.
#Hi-Health2022 was a response to a renewed commitment to our physical, spiritual, and mental health and an invitation for our community to do the same.
Program Highlights
Around the Clock: Black & Brown Femme Labor
Featuring Amita Swadhin, Adaku Utah, and Jillian Walker; Facilitated by Kirya Traber
Premiered April 8, 2021
Despite the #ListenToBlackWomen movement and a growing recognition of Black women’s role in progressive electoral politics, women of color continue to “face the compounded harms and challenges associated with both their gender and ethnicity” and are likely to be most impacted by the pandemic (Society for Women’s Health Research). For Black women and femmes of color, the dual burden of structural racism and sexism has been widely documented. How can we get better at recognizing these oppressive forces in our own lives, and what do we need to protect ourselves, and eventually heal?
Hi-ARTS Curator in Residence Kirya Traber invites cultural workers and healers into an intimate conversation about how women and femmes can support each other as individuals and how we can heal in our communities.
sleep: The Last Frontier
Featuring Eleanor Kipping and Ashley Page; Facilitated by Kirya Traber
Premiered March 30, 2021
Do you feel safe when you sleep? How has rest eroded due to grief, terror, and racial violence? In her month-long durational performance, Hi-ARTS Marketing Associate Eleanor Kipping has made her daily afternoon naps virtually available to audiences as a meditation on surveillance, police brutality, and the colonization of sleep in the age of COVID-19. Joining Eleanor in this virtual discussion is interdisciplinary artist and community organizer, Ashley Page and facilitated by Curator-in-Residence, Kirya Traber. They will explore the racial sleep divide and the impact has on BIPOC communities today.