They Won't Budge: Africans in Europe @ MOCADA

CURATED BY AWAM AMKPA, ANNALISA BUTTICCI + MADALA HILAIRE - NYU AFRICANA STUDIES
DEB WILLIS - CREATIVE CONSULTANT

Their stories are numerous, some similar and others flavored by particular struggles in specific sites of discontent. Overall, their attitudes are of stubborn resilience, hope, and survival in environments desperate for their labor but resentful of their presence. Unlike their predecessors who went to European countries for further education, these migrants take unusual risks to go work in the factories and farms of Europe and have been under the radar of immigration studies. The photographs and videos in They Won't Budge depict African immigrants making their uncertain sojourn on makeshift and intermittently-powered fishing boats from West Africa, through the rigors of European immigration control, and into the interstices of society in countries such as Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Germany, Holland, Czech and Britain.

CURATORIAL DISCUSSION AND BOOK SIGNING
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2009
6:30pm - 8:30pm   Free to the public

The curatorial team for They Won't Budge will discuss the vision behind the exhibition and its components within a larger migration project. Moderated by photographer, art historian and curatorial consultant for the project, Dr. Deb Willis, audience members will have the opportunity to ask questions about the works on view, the curatorial vision and African immigrant populations currently living in Europe. Viewers can then view the exhibition at their leisure and purchase signed copies of Dr. Willis' new book Posing Beauty in African and African American Culture.
DJ PERFORMANCE & MUSIC PANEL
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2009
7:00pm - 9:30pm   Free to the public

MoCADA and Nomadic Wax will host an interactive DJ performance and panel on the influence of hip-hop in both African and European musical forms and how DJ's borrow from numerous music types to create new house and jungle beats. The panel, consisting of DJ Boo, DJ Laylo & DJ Madi, will be moderated by arts and culture journalist Siddhartha Mitter and will have a live feed on Afrobeatradio. Following the discussion audience members can enjoy listening to each DJ perform a 15-minute set.
MINI-CONFERENCE
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2009
10:00am - 6:00pm   Free to the public

Spike Lee Screening Room - Long Island University, Brooklyn Campus (DeKalb & Flatbush Aves)
NYU Africana Studies & MoCADA will host an all day mini conference examining different elements of the migration of African populations into Europe.

CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
10:00am - 1:00pm - PANEL DISCUSSION:
NYU Africana Studies Director, Dr. Awam Amkpa will lead an academic and community panel discussion examining the historical and current migratory patterns of African populations into Europe.

1:30pm - 2:30pm - BOOK SIGNING
Following the panel, NYU professor, film and music critic Dr. Manthia Diawara will briefly discuss his book We Won't Budge. Signed copies of the book will be available for purchase.

3:00pm - 6:00pm - FILM SCREENING:
MoCADA will showcase two films describing diverging elements of contemporary social and political conditions in Africa.
Le Cri de la Mer (The Cry of the Sea), by director Aicha Thiam, is a documentary short focusing on Yaye Bayham, a Senegalese mother who lost her only son on a boat headed for the Canary Islands and now spends her days fighting against the economic exodus of Senegalese youth.

African Underground: Democracy in Dakar is a groundbreaking documentary film about the role of hip-hop during the 2007 presidential election in Dakar, Senegal. The film, produced by Nomadic Wax & Sol Productions, follows rappers, DJs, journalists, professors and people on the street at the time before, during, and after the controversial election.

FINDING AFRICA IN FT GREENE
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
2:00pm - 4:00pm

Families can learn more about the presence of the modern-day African Diaspora through a treasure hunt exploration of MoCADA's community in Fort Greene. Each participating family will receive a list of locations to find and must receive a "token" from each. Once the tokens are all collected, the first ten families will receive a gift bag full of prizes!