From Granma, Cuba's daily newspaper

Reviews of 53+1=54+1=55.Letter of the Year

I am pleased to share reviews of 53+1=54+1=55.Letter of the Year in following publications:

New York TimesArt News
BBC
Granma
Sapodeo Tropozo
UNDO
The Culture Trip

María Magdalena Campos-Pons & Neil Leonard

53+1=54+1=55.Letter of the Year
A multimedia sculptural installation

55th Venice Biennale
Museum of Archeology, Piazza San Marco, Venice
The Cuba Republic Pavilion, La Perversion de lo Clasico: Anarquia de los Relatos.
June 1 - Nov 24, 2013

53+1=54+1=55.Letter of the Year

María Magdalena Campos-Pons & Neil Leonard

53+1=54+1=55.Letter of the Year
A multimedia sculptural installation

55th Venice Biennale
Museum of Archeology, Piazza San Marco, Venice
The Cuba Republic Pavilion, La Perversion de lo Clasico: Anarquia de los Relatos.

June 1 - Nov 24, 2013
Opening: May 31, 2013, 5:00 pm

53+1=54+1=55.Letter of the Year is a multimedia installation about home, migration, the necessity of finding and redefining the meaning of permanency and locality. Birdcages were used by emperors and common men to capture beauty and to dream of freedom. From Yoruba deities, to Leonardo da Vinci, to space travel today, men and women have always dreamed of flight as embodying a lightness of being.

The interviews in the birdcages document the reconstruction of a dialogue between Cuban residents and their family members who live abroad, and the transformative power of this exchange. The sonic environment is complemented by recordings of street criers, known as pregoneros, a reflection of the increased liberalization of small businesses that exists within a void of corporate control. The voices in the cages elude physical, political and cultural borders in contemporary society. The small videos featured inside the cages were conceived as a performative response to the historical weight of the exhibition site.

The installation is a construct of architecture and sound, old and new, evoking a country that is evolving. And, like birds, people keep singing their songs of hope and freedom.

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María Magdalena Campos-Pons & Neil Leonard

53+1=54+1=55.Letter of the Year

A multimedia sculptural installation

55esima Biennale di Venezia

Museuo Archeologico, Piazza San Marco, Venezia

Padiglione della Repubblica Cubana, La Perversion de lo Clasico: Anarquia de los Relatos.

Dal 1 Giugno al 24 Novembre 2013

Opening: 31 Maggio 2013, h 17:00

Il progetto 53+1=54+1=55.Letter of the Year consiste in un'installazione multimediale incentrata sui temi dell'appartenenza e la lontananza da ciò che chiamiamo "casa", sulla necessità di trovare e ridefinire il significato della permanenza e della propria posizione nel mondo. Le gabbie per uccelli furono usate da imperatori e da persone comuni, per catturare la bellezza e sognare la libertà, dalle divinità Yoruba a Leonardo Da Vinci, l'uomo ha sempre sognato di volare, il volo stesso rappresenta l'incarnazione della libertà totale dell'essere.

Nell'opera 53+1=54+1=55.Letter of the Year le video-interviste all'interno delle gabbie documentano la ricostruzione del dialogo tra residenti cubani e i loro familiari all'estero, lasciando trasparire la forza che questo scambio rinnovato porta con sè. Nella componente sonora dell'opera sono rintracciabili le registrazioni dei Pregoneros venditori di strada, la cui presenza è un riflesso della crescente liberalizzazione dei piccoli mercati che esistono indipendentemente dal vuoto lasciato da grandi organizzazioni. Le voci registrate nei video ci parlano superando le barriere fisiche, politiche e culturali della società contemporanea. La componente video del progetto à stata concepita come una risposta performativa all'importanza storica del luogo espositivo.

L'installazione si compone quindi di elementi architettonici e sonori, alla ricerca di un proprio equilibrio tra storia e contemporaneità, evocando la vita di un paese in continua evoluzione. E, come uccelli liberi sulle loro ali, uomini e donne continuano a cantare la loro canzone di speranza e libertà.

La perversión de lo Clásico: anarquía de los relatos (The perversion of classics: The anarchy of narrations)

La perversión de lo Clásico: anarquía de los relatos (The perversion of classics: The anarchy of narrations)

I am honored to present work in the Cuban Pavilion of the Venice Biennale along with: Rui Chafes, Pedro Costa, Glenda León, María Magdalena Campos-Pons & Neil Leonard, Francesca Leone, H.H. Lim, Liudmila & Nelson, Hermann Nitsch, Sandra Ramos, Lázaro Saavedra, Tonel, Gilberto Zorio, Wang Du.

Project

53+1=54+1=55/ Letter of the Year
A multimedia video sound sculptural installation
Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons
Neil Leonard
Museum of Archelogy Piazza de San Marco Venice
Republic of Cuba Pavilion opening: May 31, 2013, 5:00 pm

Campos-Pons’ work is a site- specific installation Project 53+1=54+1=55/ Letter of the Year. Conceived in collaboration with musician and composer Neil Leonard, this multimedia installation consists of the massive structure of birdcages. The work presents a parallel to the grid of architecture and sound, old and new, always in motion, so typical of Cuban cities but also the cities around the world. The birdcages are used as metaphorical vessels to capture dreams. Inside of them there is an accumulation of fact data and fragmented video narratives played on numerous monitors, creating the mixture of sounds and images of urban Cuba, as the country evolves and the basic diversity of discourse changes in a dramatic and even theatrical way on the island, as well as in perceptions of the island from abroad.

For 53+1=54+1=55. Letter of the Year, Leonard utilizes the sound of Cuban street criers to create a sonic map constructed of voices from the island. This antiphonal map is suggestive of innovations carried out in Basilica San Marco, directly across from the Cuban pavilion, where 16th century composers began using site-specific placement of instruments and voice in their musical scores for the first time in Europe. Leonard investigates how in both present day Havana and 16th century Venice, antiphony emerged as a keynote sound that was intertwined with artistic and social transformation.

Previews/Reviews:

http://theculturetrip.com/caribbean/cuba/articles/classic-tales-of-distortion-cuba-at-the-venice-biennale/

http://blog.uprising-art.com/interview-exclusive-maria-magdalena-campos-pons-neil-leonard/?lang=en

http://www.artsobserver.com/2012/06/20/havana-biennial-exhibitions-at-wifredo-lam-center/

Installation/performance with street vendors and "Premio de Pregonero." If you are in Havana stop by to check out a performance with some amazing folkloric spoken word artists.

Programación Oncena Bienal de La Habana: Viernes 11 de mayo

Inauguración de espacio expositivo/ 12:00m
Patricia Villalobos, Nury González, Jorge Pardo, Carlos Garaicoa, María Magdalena Campos-Neil Leonard, Craig Shillito

“FeFa” (competencia de pregones). María Magdalena Campos-Neil Leonard.

Centro de Arte Contemporáneo Wifredo Lam. 
San Ignacio 22 esq. Empedrado. Plaza de la Catedral.
Tel. 861-2096

Genma Speaks! Article on Magda and myself in Nashville

We will be interviewed by cultural activist and radio journalist Genma Holms this Saturday:

Living Your Best Life Radio Show can be heard on 880 AM in the Nashville-Middle Tennessee area and on Ustream.TV worldwide from 10am-12pm CST.

A Power Stronger Than Itself

A Power Stronger Than Itself - view on Amazon

I am now reading "A Power Stronger Than Itself - The AACM and American Experimental Music" by friend and mentor George Lewis. I was pleasantly surprised to see my name in the acknowledgements.

I last heard George when he was in Boston playing on one of Steve Lacy's final concerts. Both Lacy and Lewis were astounding! I took this photo at Decordova Museum to see a show that included my wife's photography. Here we are - George, Magdalena and Arcadio.

The Third Guangzhou Triennial

I will be presenting a work with Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons. Details TBA.

The Third Guangzhou Triennial will open from September 6th to November 16th, 2008 in Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China. Opening preview will be on September 6th, 2008. The Curatorial Committee includes Gao Shiming, Sarat Maharaj and Johnson Chang Tsong-zung.

Farewell to Post-Colonialism

For the curatorial discourse of this Triennial, we propose to say ‘Farewell to Post-Colonialism’. This represents the theoretical basis from which we hope to explore our critical vision. ‘Farewell to Post-colonialism’ is not a denial of the importance and rewards of this intellectual tradition; in the real world, the political conditions criticised by post-colonialism have not receded, but in many ways are even further entrenched under the machinery of globalisation. However, as a leading discourse for art curatorial practice and criticism, post-colonialism is showing its limitations in being increasingly institutionalised as an ideological concept. Not only is it losing its edge as a critical tool, it has generated its own restrictions that hinder the emergence of artistic creativity and fresh theoretical interface. To say ‘Farewell to Post-Colonialism’ is not simply a departure, but a re-visit and a re-start.

Neil Leonard @ Auditorium di Roma

Echoes and Footsteps - live at the Auditorium di Roma. Music copyright Neil Leonard, 2007.

Leonard's sound works go to the Bass Museum, Miami

The Bass Museum presents
MARIA MAGDALENA CAMPOS-PONS:
EVERYTHING IS SEPARATED BY WATER
Sept. 21, 2007 – Nov. 11, 2007

Leonard's sound is featured in two large scale multimedia installations. This exhibition will feature approximately 17 major works that include mixed media installations and large-format Polaroid photographs. This body of work spans 15 years (1990-2005), and explores the artist's ancestral displacement from Africa, her self-imposed exile from Cuba, and her experience as an Afro-Cuban woman living in North America. On view through November 11, 2007, this traveling exhibition is the first in-depth view of Campos-Pons's artistic career, and is accompanied by a fully-illustrated catalogue, the first to explore her work. Organized by the Indianapolis Museum of Art.

Sonic Memories In/Site commissioned by Philigrafika for the Paul Robeson House

The Neil Leonard Ensemble in the Paul Robeson House, premiering "Sonic Memories In/Site" a suite of new works celebrating phase one of the renovation of Robeson's home.

Tom Lawton

Lee Smith

Craig McIver

I was commissioned by Philagrafika to compose music to celebrate the first phase of restoration of the Paul Robeson House. This is the house where he spent much of the last ten years of his life. I presented works for jazz ensemble and sound for an installation by Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons at the Robeson House in West Philadelphia.

I played with a stellar group of Philly musicians. I was in a band with Tom Lawton (piano) when I was a teenager. We rehearsed every week for two years. The trombonist was Robin Eubanks - The trumpeter was my brother Devin. This will be the first time that I play with Tom in over two decades.

Performance: October 13, 5 pm and 6:30 pm

Neil Leonard - woodwinds
Tom Lawton - piano (Dave Douglas, Don Byron)
Lee Smith - bass (Mongo Santamaria, Cedar Walton, Roberta Flack)
Craig McIver - drums (Max Roach M-Boom, Odean Pope)

Paul Robeson House
Corner/Opera. Rethinking a Site.
A Site-Specific Installation by Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons
4951 Walnut Street
Philadelphia, PA



Re:Print Re:Present Re:View

Re:Print Re:Present Re:View is part of an effort to facilitate critical dialogue about the role of printmaking in contemporary art that will culminate with Philagrafika 2010. Increasingly, artists have embraced printmaking processes as an integral part of interdisciplinary practice and each of the artists participating, Berni Searle, Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons, and Rachid Koraïchi, whose use of printmaking reflects their commitment to community, collaboration and an expanded concept of the fine print.

Curated by Salah Hasan, the project includes three artist residencies, an artist publication and the exhibition of the work created over the course of the residencies. The multi-sited exhibition will run September-November, 2007 at our project partner, Temple Gallery in Old City, Philadelphia, as well as site specific installations at Paul Robeson House and Church of the Advocate.

I was honored to work with art historian/curator Salah Hasan (left) who brought our work to the Venice Biennial, 2001.

Stenersen Museum publishes soundtrack by Leonard in major sound art exhibition

Stenersen Museum

Equatorial Rhythms features Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons video Baño Sagrado, with a 35 minute electro-acoustic score by Neil Leonard. The catalog will include excerpts of the video and and Leonard's remix of the piece on the accompanying DVD/CD.

Equatorial Rhythms
September 28 – December 30, 2007

Equatorial Rhythms will focus on the art and music of countries that have deep-rooted, indigenous musical traditions that are unique to each participating country – musical traditions that are anchored in the national identities and daily lives of the people of these countries.

By presenting both art and music by artists from the selected countries, and in many instances a crossover between art and music, the synergy between art and music will come to the fore. All in all, the complex cultural issues addressed throughout the exhibition will contribute to an extensive, interdisciplinary, cross-cultural dialogue – one that runs both North/South and East/West.

Participating artists
Kader Attia (France)
Kristin Bergaust (Norway)/Alexis Parra (Cuba)
Kjetil Berge (Norway/Cuba-Brasil)
Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons (Cuba)/Neil Leonard (US)
Albert Chong (Jamaica)
Christopher Cozier (Trinidad and Tobago)
Heri Dono / Jompet (Indonesia)
Andrew Dosunmu (UK)
Theo Eshetu (UK/Ethiopia)
Satch Hoyt (UK/Jamaica)
Alfredo Jaar (Chile)
Kimsooja (Korea)
Yvette Mattern (Puerto Rico/Germany)/Don Byron (US)
Salem Mekuria (Ethiopia)
Lamia Naji (Morocco)
Olu Oguibe (Nigeria)
Eder Santos (Brasil)
Guilherme Vaz / Sergio Bernardes (Brasil)
Paulo Vivacqua (Brasil)
Vu Nhat Tan (Vietnam)

La Marrana

I first went to Italy in 2001 to present work with Magdalena Campos-Pons at La Biennale di Venezia. At the opening we met Gianni and Grazie Bolongaro who commissioned us to create “Interiorità o Luna sulla collina” a permanent work for La Marrana (2003).

This year Gianni and Grazie Bolongaro asked me to select a group of sound works to present during the "Garden for Life" fund raiser for the Breast Health Institute. I chose works by Gary Chang, Anthony Baldino, Jess Hewitt and Pierce Warnecke. The following day La Marrana featured works by visual artists Claudio Losi and Hamish Fulton and hosted an artists talk with Giacinto Di Pietrantonio and Angela Vettese.

Ann Chang, Jess Hewitt, Anthony Baldino, Daria Trevisan, Neil Leonard, Gary Chang, Pierce Warnecke, Arthur Chang. Anthony, Jess and Pierce are graduates of Berklee College of Music. Daria attended my Site Specific Sound Installation and Performance Seminar at Università degli Studi di Padova and C. Pollini Conservatory (2006).


Anthony, Jess and Pierce were a huge hit everywhere we played.

Sguardi Sonori 2007 at Auditorium di Roma, Parco della Musica

Sguardi Sonori 2007 began on June 20th with a concert at the Auditorium di Roma, Parco della Musica. This center for music designed by renowned Italian architect Renzo Piano who designed the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris with Richard Rogers.

Neil Leonard performing Echoes and Footsteps with video by Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons

On stage after the performance Olivia Block, Neil Leonard, Pamela Z, Stephen Piccolo, Gak Sato.

Back stage with artist, organizer and friend Carlo Fatigoni.
Date: June 20
City: Rome, Italy
Venue: Auditorium Parco Della Musica, Teatro Studio, Roma
Concert works by Neil Leonard, Olivia Block, Pamela Z, 
Steve Piccolo & Gak Sato
 and a sound installation by Gary Chang.

Video Bar Romeo plays in Laptopia Festival, Israel

Video Bar Romeo by Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons and Neil Leonard.

Organized by Ido Grovin and Liora Bedford (Duprass) and Interval Recordings.

Performance at Galleria Pack Milano

Last year's tour of Italy included a performance at Galleria Pack with Gadi Sasson (electroncs) and Ernesto Rodriguez (percussion). Ernesto and I played together in the band of Emiliano Salvador, a legendary Cuban pianist. Ernesto also played on my CD Timaeus.

The exhibition at Pack was Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons SONO QUI (I AM HERE), curated by Sergio Risaliti: from June 22nd through September 10th 2006. I did sound for the single channel video tape "Bar Romeo" and the installation "La Viajera."

Gadi Sasson
Ernesto Rodriguez

Dreaming of an Island - Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra

Date: February 17
City: Indianapolis
Venue: Indiana History Center – Basile Theatre

Event: Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra: Kirk Trevor, conducts the World premiere of “Dreaming of an Island” by Neil Leonard for orchestra, electronics and interactive video.

Program Notes

Dreaming of an Island revisits ideas that I first explored in video and installations with Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons. Our collaboration contribution spans 19 years and about 9 collaborative works. Many of these works are featured in Campos-Pons' retrospective show Everything is Separated by Water at IMA. Dreaming of an Island was commissioned by the Indianapolis Museum of Art.
 
My first works with Campos-Pons were filmscores, Rite of Initiation (1988) and Sacred Bath (1991). Since the beginning, my work with Campos-Pons has focused on the exploration of ancient cultural themes, and their impact on contemporary personal narrative. 

Both scores used themes from West African Yoruba music that Campos-Pons heard as a child in Cuba. My scores explored these melodies and rhythms and their connection to American pop and jazz music. (The experimental sounds of Jimi Hendrix and the Art Ensemble of Chicago were staples of my playlist at the time.) Dreaming of an Island draws on an even broader palette, but the basic goal is similar - to explore the ancient sounds as they resonate in the circles of 21st century concert music, electronic music and jazz.

The video projection for Dreaming of an Island is a montage created my myself and Magdalena Campos-Pons using a software system of our own design.

Link:
Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra

Everything is Separated by Water

This is the last weekend for Everything is Separated by Water!
Date: February 25-June 3
City: Indianapolis
Venue: Indianapolis Museum of Art

Event: Everything is Separated by Water: Sound for five installations by Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons' mid-career exhibition.

www.ima-art.org

Catalog:
Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons: Everything Is Separated by Water
by Okwui Enwezor and Lisa D. Freiman available on Amazon.com