Censorship

"CENSORSHIP: an exhibition featuring artists in distress". Now that sounds like a great topic for an art show. The following is yet another email I received for an event that looks interesting so much that I thought to repost it. And again, lately I am finding myself posting more and more events because hey, it's less writing sometimes. And what better venue to have an art show titled Censorship, than at the Brecht Forum. And I hear The Himalayas will be performing there also. So if you happen to be in the New York City area tonight, this looks like an event worth checking out. And I have for some reason found myself using that word lately in regards to free speech, democracy and the Pacifica, WBAI elections radio drama that I have been following lately. And what is censorship, free speech and democracy anyway. That's a whole another blog posting. And what does this have to do with a No Police State? Have a great art day.

Friends,

This Thursday, November 8th, from 6-9pm is the Exhibit Opening and Reception of the Censorship Show at the Brecht Forum in the West Village. Featuring Live music, poetry, dance, and artist talks. This will be a group show with art of different media, all exploring the impact and boundaries of censorship.

Curated by L2EL Arts

The unimagined evolution and status of many politicized cultures continues to inspire multimedia artists throughout the world. The CENSORSHIP show presents the work of New York City and international artists who openly choose to create art that rejects the systems presently dominating humanity and its ways of thinking. Curated by L2EL Arts, this month-long, multimedia exhibition also serves as a benefit for freeDimensional whose efforts work to promote social justice through artistic communities around the world. CENSORSHIP is curated by Jennifer Harris and Thomas Bell. Please visit freeDdimensional and L2EL Arts for more information and details as the show approaches.

November 8 - December 6, 2007

Closing Celebration: Friday November 30, 7-10pm
Featuring live music and dance.

From New York Magazine

Founded in 1975, the Brecht Forum is devoted to promoting social change and independent thought. Though the institute is supposedly nonpartisan, its programs and classes -- some run by in-house groups like the New York Marxist School and the Institute for Popular Education -- unabashedly skew to the far left. (Not surprising given the center's namesake: socialist German playwright Bertolt Brecht.) With a full-time staff of just two, the center relies on over 100 volunteers to teach classes and lead discussion groups. Now housed in its sixth location, an artists' complex near the Hudson River, the organization's 5,500-square-feet of space is divided up into a gallery, two classrooms, and a theater set apart by a semicircular drywall built by local high-school students. The theater's chairs are stacked amid exposed wooden pillars while films are projected onto a white wall; a function-first aesthetic which Brecht himself would've approved heartily.

All Are Welcome

Though most classes and events have an admission fee, rarely is anyone turned away because of an inability to pay.

Rare Books

One of Brecht's classrooms contains a small library of Marxist books - some quite rare - by the likes of Lenin and Trotsky.