afronaut(a)

For the past month The Last Billboard has been exhibiting Alisha Wormsley’s text “There are Black People in the Future.“ Alisha is a celebrated Pittsburgh-based artist and cultural producer (winner of the 2016 City of Pittsburgh Mayor’s Award for Public Art) whose work explores collective memory and the synchronicity of time, specifically through the stories of women of color. Alisha’s text for the billboard comes from her ongoing art practice, particularly her interest in Afrofuturism.

Last week, The Last Billboard’s landlord, We Do Property, forced Alisha’s text to be taken down over objections to the content (through a never-before evoked clause in the lease that gives the landlord the right to approve text).

I believe in the power, poetry, and relevance of Alisha’s text and see absolutely no reason it should have been taken down. I find it tragically ironic, given East Liberty’s history and recent gentrification, that a text by an African American artist affirming a place in the future for black people is seen as unacceptable in the present.

The artist will be part of a public panel discussion about the text and its removal hosted by the Kelly Strayhorn Theater in the next few weeks. More information to come.

CALL TO VIDEO ARTISTS _ ARTISTS WITH VIDEOS 

Afronaut(a) is seeking videos and short films for its 2015 video magazine “Underground”. The magazine will include your films and brief interviews and features of you and the series. The DVD Magazine will be released September of 2016 with screening of the works and performances during our Media Festival.

“Afronaut(a): is a collage of time, travel. the space from the rites to the popular. travels thru culture and the moving image. navigations through inspiration, identity and creation…”

Based in Pittsburgh PA, Afronaut(a)’s inaugural season in 2013 featured an experimental conversation of and about film. Afronauta produced a film salon featuring video and film screenings in conjunction with live performance.

Afronaut(a)’s second season in 2014 consisted of a media festival, including screenings, performances, and films created from around the world in unique urban settings, presented over a ten week span.

Currently in Season 3. We are exploring new and old films supporting different themes of afrofuturism.

THEME We are now calling on artists and filmmakers to submit short works (max of 15 minutes) for inclusion in our video magazine. The theme is “Underground”

We encourage submissions from different genres, such as narrative, documentary, stop motion, experimental and more.

afronaut(a) is ALL INCLUSIVE to artists of any likeness. the title afronuat(a) originated with the idea that if you are discussing time travel you should start at the origin of humanity and time…

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS

send us a bio, cv, brief description of your work or artist statement (less than 250 words) and a vimeo link to your work. Don’t forget the password if the video is listed as private ate. Send application to [email protected] by June 1, 2016.

DATES Application Due: June 1, 2016 Notifications: July 1, 2016

Festival and Release: September 2016

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

CALL TO VIDEO ARTISTS _ ARTISTS WITH VIDEOS 

Afronaut(a) is seeking videos and short films for its 2015 video magazine “Underground”. The magazine will include your films and brief interviews and features of you and the series. The DVD Magazine will be released September of 2016 with screening of the works and performances during our Media Festival.

“Afronaut(a): is a collage of time, travel. the space from the rites to the popular. travels thru culture and the moving image. navigations through inspiration, identity and creation…”

Based in Pittsburgh PA, Afronaut(a)’s inaugural season in 2013 featured an experimental conversation of and about film. Afronauta produced a film salon featuring video and film screenings in conjunction with live performance.

Afronaut(a)’s second season in 2014 consisted of a media festival, including screenings, performances, and films created from around the world in unique urban settings, presented over a ten week span.

Currently in Season 3. We are exploring new and old films supporting different themes of afrofuturism.

THEME We are now calling on artists and filmmakers to submit short works (max of 15 minutes) for inclusion in our video magazine. The theme is “Underground”

We encourage submissions from different genres, such as narrative, documentary, stop motion, experimental and more.

afronaut(a) is ALL INCLUSIVE to artists of any likeness. the title afronuat(a) originated with the idea that if you are discussing time travel you should start at the origin of humanity and time…

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS

send us a bio, cv, brief description of your work or artist statement (less than 250 words) and a vimeo link to your work. Don’t forget the password if the video is listed as private ate. Send application to [email protected] by June 1, 2016.

DATES Application Due: June 1, 2016 Notifications: July 1, 2016

Festival and Release: September 2016

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Missing some fantasy and sci-fi featuring POC leads in your life? Check out some of the comics and anthologies from Rosarium Publishing!

The Assimilated Cuban’s Guide to Quantum Santeria: “Assimilation is founded on surrender and being broken; this collection of short stories features people who have assimilated, but are actively trying to reclaim their lives. A collection of sci-fi and fantasy Latino short stories about losing and reclaiming cultural identity.”

Stories for Chip: A Tribute to Samuel R. Delany: “From surrealistic visions of bucolic road trips to erotic transgressions to mind-expanding analyses of Samuel R. Delany’s influence on the genre—as an out gay man, an African American, and possessor of a startlingly acute intellect—this book conveys the scope of the subject’s sometimes troubling, always rewarding genius.“

The SEA is Ours: Tales of Steampunk Southeast Asia: “The stories in this collection merge technological wonder with the everyday. Children upgrade their fighting spiders with armor, and toymakers create punchcard-driven marionettes. Large fish lumber across the skies, while boat people find a new home on the edge of a different dimension. Technology and tradition meld as the people adapt to the changing forces of their world.“

Mothership: Tales from Afrofuturism: This anthology focuses on fantasy and sci-fi through a non-white and postcolonial lens, with stories including folklore and narratives from a varieties of cultures - Haitian, Japanese, African-American, Mexican, Native American, and so many more.

DayBlack: “Beneath the polluted clouds of DayBlack, Georgia, a man exists. After hundreds of years of killing to survive, he no longer wants to simply exist…he wants to live. DayBlack is the story of Merce, a former slave who was bitten by a vampire in the cotton fields. “