“Trade/itions” is a two-day symposium event that will explore the points of orisha intersections through an artistic, activist and 21st-century lens. Principal demonstrations and social impacts of these global traditions will be shown through music, dance, panel-dialogue sessions, altar installations and the moving image. Programs and activities have been carefully curated to include expressions and holders of these traditions from throughout the Americas: Brazil, Cuba, Haiti, Puerto Rico, Trinidad and the United States.
Performers will include Baba Neil Clarke with Iyes Drum Ensemble and featuring Akpon Amma McKen, master Cuban percussionist Roman Diaz and his ensemble and from Trinidad, Something Positive.
Saturday opens with a special dialogue conversation with Dr. Robert Farris Thompson, celebrating the 35th anniversary of his iconic work, “Flash of the Spirit.”
The event will also feature the New York City film premiere of “Yemanja: Wisdom From the African Heart of Brazil” (www.yemanjathefilm.com), narrated by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Alice Walker. “Yemanja: Wisdom From the African Heart of Brazil” is a documentary film about the Candombl spiritual tradition in Bahia, Brazil, a vibrant African-derived culture that evolved from slavery’s brutal past. Elder women leaders tell stories of Candombl’s history, social challenges and triumphs, grounded in strong community and Earth-based wisdom and practice.
For more information about the program, visit www.cccadi.org/tradeitions.