IdeasCity — New Museum
May 28 – 30, 2015
Presented by Albanian Institute
Albanian Institute in collaboration with Arte Institute and New Museum is proud to present “I will Play your Soul” interactive art performance at the IDEAS CITY Festival 2015.
The Festival will take place May 28 – 30 and center on the theme of The Invisible City.
IDEASCITY, a biennial festival by New Museum that brought more than 50,000 visitors in previous years, will temporarily transform downtown Manhattan into a City of Ideas, redefining public space through participatory performances and exhibitions. Notable projects includes “ETH Zurich Future Garden and Pavilion” and “A Performative Conference in Nine Acts” outlining the future metropolis.
The Albanian Institute’s events are lively forums for exchanging ideas and sharing impactful stories. We regularly invite thinkers and educators, artists and activists, and poets and novelists to engage in dialogue with each other and with our broader community about our shared human experiences.
Visual artist Joana Ricou will take “selfies” of the audience by photographing the objects they carry in their pockets and purses. Pianist Renato Diz and guitarist Taulant Mehmeti will invent a melody inspired by the photographs and the “selfies” made by Ricou.
“I’m always interested in new ways of getting to know ourselves and each other that don’t involve looking at a face. In this project, I invite you to consider what the objects you are carrying with you, right at this moment, may say about who you are, where you’ve been, and where you are” says Joana Ricou a visual artist from Portugal based in Brooklyn.
Taulant Mehmeti, a young talented Albanian guitarist from Kosovo is a natural improvisor. A student of New School for Contemporary Jazz Music, he recently debuted at the Blue Note in New York City, fulfilling a lifelong dream, a dream for any aspiring jazz musician. His life journey – from his small hometown of Prishtina to the biggest venues and festivals in NYC – is truly remarkable and inspiring.
Dozens of artists across disciplines, one hundred organizations, and tens of thousands of audiences will come together to explore questions of transparency, citizenship and representation, expression and suppression, participation and dissent, and will be an invitation to explore the question of visibility and related dynamics.
The Festival will take place May 28 – 30 and center on the theme of The Invisible City.
IDEASCITY, a biennial festival by New Museum that brought more than 50,000 visitors in previous years, will temporarily transform downtown Manhattan into a City of Ideas, redefining public space through participatory performances and exhibitions. Notable projects includes “ETH Zurich Future Garden and Pavilion” and “A Performative Conference in Nine Acts” outlining the future metropolis.
About IdeasCity
IdeasCity is a collaborative, civic, and creative platform that starts from the premise that art and culture are essential to the future vitality of cities. This international initiative provides a forum for designers, artists, technologists, and policymakers to exchange ideas, identify challenges, propose solutions, and engage the public’s participation. The initiative was cofounded at the New Museum by Lisa Phillips, Toby Devan Lewis Director, and Karen Wong, Deputy Director.
About the New Museum
The New Museum is the only museum in New York City exclusively devoted to contemporary art. Founded in 1977, the New Museum is a center for exhibitions, information, and documentation about living artists from around the world. From its beginnings as a one-room office on Hudson Street to the inauguration of its first freestanding building on the Bowery designed by SANAA in 2007, the New Museum continues to be a place of experimentation and a hub of new art and new ideas.
About the Albanian Institute
Albanian Institute is a multi-arts and cultural institution supporting, producing, and presenting the full range of performing arts, visual arts, and contemporary culture. We bring together established and emerging artists in fields ranging from painting and drawing to digital media, pop to jazz music, theater to literature, and sculpture to dance. Programs range from performance, film, and visual arts, to architecture, design and fashion, in addition to talks and lecture series, with collaborations across these disciplines and others, in the US and around the world.