Intervention: Raphael Red
Inspired by the renovation of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, the project is an invitation to acknowledge and appreciate the underrecognized and “invisible” labor behind what is on display in museums: curators, conservation staff, custodians, janitors, administrators, security guards, and receptionists, to name just a few.
Raphael Red King. Portrayed by Najja Codrington. Photo: Frank Veronsky
Raphael Red Prince 3. Portrayed by Najja Codrington. Photo: Frank Veronsky
Raphael Red Prince 2. Portrayed by Jabari Rollocks. Photo: Frank Veronsky
Raphael Red Prince 1. Portrayed by Khyle Lambert. Photo: Frank Veronsky
The Brooklyn Jumbies, Laura Anderson Barbata and Diego Barbata. Intervention: Raphael Red, walk-through Bushwick, 2016. Photo: Frank Veronsky
The Brooklyn Jumbies, Laura Anderson Barbata and Diego Barbata. Intervention: Raphael Red, walk-through Bushwick, 2016. Photo: Frank Veronsky
The Brooklyn Jumbies. Intervention: Raphael Red, walk-through Bushwick, 2016. Photo: Frank Veronsky
Red (Interventions)
2017-ongoing
Laura Anderson Barbata in collaboration with the Brooklyn Jumbies.
Intervention: Raphael Red was commissioned by the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and performed outside the museum with the Brooklyn Jumbies, Spontaneous Celebrations stilt dancers, Grooversity musicians and dancers in 2017.
Intervention: Raphael Red was inspired by the renovation project of the ISGM museum in the Raphael Room that involved the laborious task of replicating all of the multiple silk damasks that upholstered the walls behind the Raphael paintings in the gallery. I was interested in highlighting not only the beauty and great variety of the patterns -which can easily be overlooked if one solely concentrates on looking at the famous Italian Renaissance paintings - but also as a metaphor that invites us to recognize all of the underrecognized and invisible labor that is behind what we go to look at in a museum: the curators, conservation department, custodians, cleaning department, administrators, guards, receptionists…
The project continues to evolve as I incorporate into the work the significance of the dyes used, the forced commerce between Mexico and Europe that facilitated the proliferation of this deep shade of red, the process of extraction of the color from the female cochinilla beetle and the symbolism of the color in Meso America. These are the points of departure to delve deeper with this work to highlight the impacts of invisibility, of underrecognized labor and of gender violence. The working titles are Intervention: Red and Intervention: Cochineal.
Intervention: Raphael Red, ISGM, 2017
Intervention: Red, 2019-2021
By invitation of Carrie Mae Weems, a new iteration of the work was performed in The Future Is Now during REACH Opening Festival 2019 at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. The original Raphael Red garments and headpieces were reworked to expand the narrative. My headpiece is constructed with handmade wax flowers from Mexico, and handmade heart-shaped pink lollypops, which deconstructs as I engage directly with the spectators along the route by handing them a symbol of love. The work presented again in 2021 at The Watermill Center as part of Carrie Mae Weems´ CROSSROADS project in collaboration with Robert Wilson.
Also in 2021 in Brooklyn, where we walked through Red Hook Houses, the largest public housing project in New York. Red Hook Houses has been undergoing reconstruction for the last few years disrupting the lives of the residents as they are continually facing construction noise, dirt, dust, barbwire fences, and a loss of spaces for gathering.
The same year, the project received the City Artist Crops Grant presented by NYFA and DCLS to present the intervention on the streets of the Theater District of New York.
Intervention: Red, 2019. Laura Anderson Barbata in collaboration with the Brooklyn Jumbies for Carrie Mae Weems´ The Future Is Now during REACH Opening Festival, Kennedy Center Washington D.C. Photo: Donald Shriber
Intervention: Red, 2019. Laura Anderson Barbata for Carrie Mae Weems´ The Future Is Now during REACH Opening Festival, Kennedy Center Washington D.C. Photo: Donald Shriber
Intervention: Red, 2019. The Brooklyn Jumbies for Carrie Mae Weems´ The Future Is Now during REACH Opening Festival, Kennedy Center Washington D.C. Photo: Donald Shriber
Intervention: Red, 2019. Laura Anderson Barbata in collaboration with the Brooklyn Jumbies for Carrie Mae Weems´ The Future Is Now during REACH Opening Festival, Kennedy Center Washington D.C. Photo: Donald Shriber
Intervention: Red, 2021. In collaboration with Chief Shaka Zulu, Naimah Zulu, Sarauniya Zulu and Kameron Bryant for Carrie Mae Weems´ CROSSROADS. The Watermill Center Summer Festival. Photo: Michaela Lind
Intervention: Red, 2021. In collaboration with Chief Shaka Zulu, Naimah Zulu, Sarauniya Zulu and Kameron Bryant for Carrie Mae Weems´ CROSSROADS. The Watermill Center Summer Festival. Photo: Michaela Lind
Intervention: Red, 2021. Red Hook, Brooklyn. In collaboration with the Brooklyn Jumbies. Photo: Frank Veronsky
Intervention: Red, 2021. Red Hook, Brooklyn. In collaboration with the Brooklyn Jumbies. Photo: Frank Veronsky
Intervention: Red, 2021. Red Hook, Brooklyn. In collaboration with the Brooklyn Jumbies. Photo: Frank Veronsky
Intervention: Red, 2021. Red Hook, Brooklyn. In collaboration with the Brooklyn Jumbies and Cornelio Joseph musicians. Photo: Frank Veronsky
Intervention: Red, 2021. Manhattan. In collaboration with the Brooklyn Jumbies and Michaela Lind. Photo: Stefan Falke
Intervention: Red, 2021. Manhattan. In collaboration with the Brooklyn Jumbies and Michaela Lind. Photo: Stefan Falke
Intervention: Red, 2021. Manhattan. In collaboration with the Brooklyn Jumbies and Michaela Lind. Photo: Stefan Falke
Intervention: Red, 2021. Manhattan. In collaboration with the Brooklyn Jumbies and Michaela Lind. Photo: Stefan Falke
Intervention: Red, 2021. Manhattan. In collaboration with the Brooklyn Jumbies and Michaela Lind. Photo: Stefan Falke
In 2018, invited by film director Monty Marsh, we presented a variation of this project.
Adidas "Originals" - Directed by Monty Marsh (Behind the Scenes) The Commercial Directors Diversity Program – CDDP – is a program created by the AICP and the DGA as part of its contract negotiations. CDDP reflects the commitment of both organizations to effect change and increase the representation of women and other historically underrepresented groups of people in commercial directing.
Collaborator Bios
ISGM 2017 Collaborators:
The Brooklyn Jumbies
Queen portrayed by: Ashley Rose
Tess Fredette
Spontaneous Celebrations
Grooversity, Kelly Brilliant and the Fenway Alliance
Talia Ancrum
Peggy Fogelman
Michael Holland
Fayette Long
Mark Pelletier
Patrice Matos
Kathy Sharpless
Meegan Williams
Finn York
Tatum York
Tiffany York
Tyler Young
Rhea Vedro
And the Gardner Museum´s Teens Behind The Scenes
The Brooklyn Jumbies Inc. is an organization whose sole purpose is to heighten the community’s cultural awareness of African and African-Caribbean culture. Brooklyn Jumbies perform stilt-dancing, which is one of the numerous cultural elements of the African and Caribbean Diaspora. The founding members of Brooklyn Jumbies Inc. are Ali Sylvester and Najja Codrington. Since 2007 the Brooklyn Jumbies Inc. have worked closely with Laura Anderson Barbata presenting collaborative and outreach projects in Mexico, Jamaica, Singapore and the US. Since 2008 they have collaborated with the Zancudos de Zaachila (traditional stilt-dancers from Oaxaca). With Barbata they have performed in various Museums, among the Modern Museum of Fort Worth, Texas; Museum of Modern Art, MoMA in New York; Centro Nacional de las Artes in Monterrey, Mexico; and Museo de la Ciudad de México. Among their most significant performances are Jumbie Camp, 2007 presented on 24th Street Chelsea, New York; Intervention: Wall Street, presented in the Financial District of New York, 2011; STRUT! Madison, Wisconsin 2015; Intervention: Indigo, 2015, presented in Brooklyn, The Macy´s Thanksgiving Day Parade and the Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian, New York; What-Lives-Beneath, Kingston, Jamaica, 2016; Ocean Blue(s), 2017, NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore; Ocean Calling, 2017 commissioned by Thyssen-Bornemisza Contemporary Academy and presented at the United Nations Plaza, andIntervention: Ocean Blues, 2018, commissioned and performed at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, and in DUMBO, Brooklyn as part of New York Rise for Climate, Jobs and Justice week organized by No Longer Empty.
Based in New York, Najja Codrington is a co-founder of the Brooklyn Jumbies along with Ali Sylvester, and is also Musical Director of the KowTeff School of African Dance. Najja was born into a family that is deeply rooted in both African and African-Caribbean culture. At the age of 10, under the guidance of Obara Wali Rahman, he received his first formal training of the Sabar orchestra as a member of Sabar Ak-Ru-Afrique. Najja’s studies encompass music and dance from both the Caribbean and West Africa. Najja has traveled abroad to Senegal, West Africa where he studied under the tutelage of the Drame/Diabate griot family. As a result, he was exposed to an extensive amount of lore. As Najja has studied African dance and drumming intensively for many years, several people have contributed to his learning, such as Sewaa Codrington, Aissatou Diop, Wilhemina Taylor, Gregory Ince, Karim Braithway, Kissima Diabate, and Souleyman Diop, to name just a few. Currently, Najja is involved in many cultural activities such as Cultural Youth International’s Brooklyn Jumbies, Adlib Steel Pan Orchestra KowTeff African Dance Company, Bakh Yaye and A Touch of Folklore & More. Najja firmly believes that the cultural arts are not merely an economic tool. It is an inherent part of his spirit, which is a dominant driving force. It is with this driving force that he unselfishly mentors youth, instilling discipline, direction and pride. He also gives special thanks and praise to his mother because he would not be who he is today if it were not for her. Najja brings high-spirited energy to all groups that he embraces.
Intervention: Raphael Red was commissioned by the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. The Project-Based Artis-in-Residence Program, 2017, directed by curator Pieranna Cavalchini.
2019-2021 Collaborators:
Intervention: Red, 2019, 2021. Laura Anderson Barbata in collaboration with the Brooklyn Jumbies: Najja Codrington, Keil Alibocas, Khyle Lambert and Jabari Rollocks. Was included in Carrie Mae Weems project titled: The Future Is Now and featured in the REACH Opening Festival, 2019. Kennedy Center, Washington D.C. And Red Hook Houses, Brooklyn.
Intervention: Red, 2021. Laura Anderson Barbata in collaboration with Chief Shaka Zulu, Naimah Zulu, Nia Zulu and Kameron Bryant. Was included in Carrie Mae Weems and Robert Wilson´s CROSSROADS, at The Watermill Center.
Chief Shaka Zulu is a practicing Black Masking Indian (aka Mardi Gras Indian) and lecturer on the rich history and folklore of this New Orleans tradition. He also hails from a family of African traditional stilt dancers, an ancient West African art form. With Naimah Zulu , Nia Zulu, and his touring company Zulu Connection: he has an extensive travel record performing as a stilt dancer around the world in places such as China, Russia, Brazil, Europe, Africa, Canada and most domestic states. Initiated into this secret and sacred art form, Chief Shaka teaches the culture, discipline, and need for preservation of this guarded ancient custom to youth in his community. Committed to the growth and educational prosperity of the youth of New Orleans, Chief Shaka also manages and is an instructor for the youth summer cultural enrichment camp of Better Family Life, Inc. New Orleans Chapter.
As Big Chief of the Golden Feather Hunters, Chief Shaka Zulu has exhibited his suits both nationally and internationally at museums and festivals. Following Hurricane Katrina in 2005, his suits were exhibited at San Francisco’s DeYoung Museum. In 2015 his New Suit was featured in Berlin, Germany at Sounds of the City, an exhibit featuring the culture of New Orleans. Most recently his suit, ¨Shango¨, is permanently housed in The Netherlands at the Africa Museum. His suit ¨Shango Volume II¨ is currently on exhibit at Xavier University in collaboration with the Nigerian batik and adore textile designer Chief Nike Davies-Okundaye. This summer several of his suits will also be exhibited at Martha’s Vineyard Activation, a New Orleans Tourism and Marketing Event. The Ëguptology Volume II¨suit is exhibited at the Ritz Carlton penthouse in New Orleans and the ¨Dragon of Dragons¨suit is on permanent exhibit at The Better Family Life Cultural Center in St. Louis, MO.