#bkmprograms

I've been a woman with my legs stretched by the wind rushing the day thinking i heard your voice while it was only the nite moving over making room for the dawn.

—“Poem No. 8” from I’ve Been A Woman, 1978

Soft words and lyrical confession make up Poem No. 8, a poem by the acclaimed author and activist Dr. Sonia Sanchez. Her vast body of work urgently grapples with black womanhood, ancestry, life, and love. 

Please join us on Thursday, February 22nd with the National Coalition of 100 Black Women as we honor Dr. Sanchez for her literary and cultural contributions, featuring live readings and discussions with the poet herself.

Behind the spectacle of its record-breaking auction sale and the boldness of its singular presentation in our current exhibition One Basquiat, Untitled (1982) is a deeply introspective painting. Its suspended skull and brilliant blue color belie a surface of doodles and scrawls, like the simple face of an intricate clock. The painting presents a level of intrigue worthy of its legendary creator, Jean-Michel Basquiat, who, despite an untimely death, continues to be an unshakeable influence to artists, designers and creators today.

On Thursday, February 15, we invite contemporary artists and collaborators to reflect on this inimitable figure. Participants include Cey Adams, graffiti artist and former creative director of Def Jam, artist and actor Lee Quiñones, and photographer Maripol. Get your tickets while they last.

‘Tis that time of year again! Our popular Salsa Party is back for a new season in partnership with the legendary Balmir Latin Dance Company. So you think you can’t dance? That’s not an excuse! Our parties are open to all levels and begin with a lesson led by Balmir’s professional instructors so that you can pull up to that social dancing hour with all the swag and flow you need.

We’re kicking off 2018 with the first Salsa Party of the year, on Thursday, January 11 at 6pm in the Glass Pavilion. As always the evening is free and includes special live music and dance performances by Brooklyn’s best latin dance teams. Nos vemos ahí!

Whenever I bring a school group to the Rotunda on the 5th floor, they are mesmerized by the Sergei Eisenstein video installation on view in  Proof: Francisco Goya, Sergei Eisenstein, Robert Longo. It is an immersive space that engages sight and mind as you try to piece together the silent slow moving images that surround you. On December 9 at 7pm, we will be broadening this sensory experience with a special music performance composed and performed by Rhys Chatham and an ensemble of musicians, including Robert Longo, who’s featured in Proof alongside Sergei Eisenstein.

They will be performing Rhys’ Guitar Trio, composed in 1977 and one of his longstanding influential pieces. This promises to be an one-of-a-kind experience, and you should definitely not miss it. Spots are limited so get your tickets today!

"Slavery didn't end in 1865. It evolved." —Bryan Stevenson, founder and Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI). 

In this still from Ken Burns’s 1981 film Brooklyn Bridge, a dark, beautiful glow outlines the city and the iconic Brooklyn Bridge. It is a fitting portrait for the Bridge’s legacy: today an American monument, 135 years ago a seemingly insurmountable endeavor. On Thursday, December 7th, the newly restored film returns to the Brooklyn Museum, where it originally premiered, for a screening and talkback with director Ken Burns and New York Times reporter Jim Dwyer.

Get your tickets today!

Fall is my favorite time of year. Fall brings comfort and an unusual rainbow spectrum of oranges, browns, and yellows. It brings back the nostalgia of racing my Mom to crunch the first dry leaf on the ground. The one major holiday that knows how to ring in the Fall with delight and excitement is Halloween. Get a fresh look at representations of animals with two unique tours. This one-of-a-kind experience begins with a tour of our special exhibition, Soulful Creatures: Animal Mummies in Ancient Egypt, which explores the ancient Egyptian process and purpose of animal mummification through a display of mummies of birds, cats, dogs, snakes, and other animals from cemeteries throughout Egypt. Then, we’ll hop on the trolley to Green-Wood Cemetery to compare these spiritual creatures to the wide variety of Victorian-era symbolic representations of animals, from birds and bees to lions and horses, in Green-Wood’s menagerie of monuments. There are three options to choose from, one that is a walking tour on Halloween itself (with open Mausoleums and nighttime fun).

October 21, 2017: 11:00 am – 2:00 pm

11 am Meet in the Rubin Lobby

11 am–12 pm Tour of Soulful Creatures

12:15 pm Meet in the Rubin Lobby, trolley ride to Green-Wood Cemetery

12:45–1:45 pm Trolley tour of Green-Wood Cemetery

1:45–2 pm Return to Museum

October 21, 2017: 3:00 – 6:00 pm

3 pm Meet in the Rubin Lobby

3–4 pm Tour of Soulful Creatures

4:15 pm Meet in the Rubin Lobby, trolley ride to Green-Wood Cemetery

4:45–5:45 pm Trolley tour of Green-Wood Cemetery

5:45–6 pm Return to Museum

October 31, 6:00 – 9:00 pm

6 pm Meet in the Rubin Lobby

6–7 pm Tour of Soulful Creatures

7:15 pm Meet in the Rubin Lobby, trolley ride to Green-Wood Cemetery

7:45–8:45 pm Walking tour of Green-Wood Cemetery

8:45–9 pm Return to Museum

Get your tickets today!