Media
Du Bois in Our Time
Lynda B. Kaplan produced and directed a short documentary for the UMASS Amherst University Museum of Contemporary Art. It showcases ten artists who create new works based on the writings and ideas of W. E. B. Du Bois.
Watch the film on YouTube.
Exhibition audio and video for Exhibitions at the New-York Historical Society
Video
“Peering into the Well”: an immersive video experience exploring the surreptitious gathering of black women in colonial New York City—from the exhibition, Slavery in New York
“Master Juba”: an interpretive demonstration about the progenitor of tap dance—from the exhibition, New York Divided, Slavery and the Civil War.
“Lakou, Kreyòl, Vodou”: An interview with anthropologist Rachel Beauvoir on the language and cultural practices that shaped the Haitian people — from the exhibition, Revolution! The Atlantic World Reborn.
Audio
We created short two-minute monologues, or two- and three-character dialogues based on identifiable historical characters. When that isn’t possible, we sometimes create a composite character, based on a historical image or someone who could appear in the historical record, but doesn’t.
New York Divided: Slavery and the Civil War
We used James McCune Smith’s famous newspaper series, “The Heads of the Colored People,” as a source to construct dialogues with the “nameless but unforgotten Black people of New York.” In this example, we ask the visitor to imagine a blacksmith and the sexton of a Black church, as they meet one day. (running time 2:03)
Revolution! The Atlantic World Reborn
On the tables of an 18th-century reconstructed tavern in the colonial Caribbean, audio installations bring to life a range of contemporary characters, Black and white, enslaved and free, almost all of them dancing on the edges of the law. They make deals, gamble away their profits, and share talk of emancipation, equality, and liberty. Two samples: An Itinerant Healer (running time 0:27); and A Mercenary (running time 0:22).
A Healer – running time: 27
A Mercenary – running time: 22
