Event Details
Date & Time:
Wed October 27, 2021
7 PM
Location:
The Block Museum of Art
40 Arts Circle Drive
Evanston, IL 60208
Audience:
Open to the public
Details:
Ouvertures
The Living and the Dead Ensemble, 2020, 132 min, DCP Digital
The Living and the Dead Ensemble, a collective of Haïtian and European artists, performers, and filmmakers, channel the revolutionary legacy of Toussaint L’Ouverture in this bold hybrid of documentary, cinema, and theater. On the streets of contemporary Port-au-Prince, collective members rehearse and discuss a Creole translation of Martinican poet and philosopher Edouard Glissant’s play Monsier Toussaint. Adopting Glissant’s idea of history as a form of “spiral retelling,” Ouvertures suggests that the Haïtian revolution is both a historical precedent and a work-in-progress.
Paul Breslin, Professor of English at Northwestern University, will introduce the film.
Ouvertures courtesy of The Living and the Dead Ensemble and Spectre Productions
About the series:
Retelling Resistance
Inspired by the exhibition "Who Says, Who Shows, What Counts: Thinking About History with the Block’s Collection", this film series explores the intersection of historical memory and radical imagination. The films in Retelling Resistance revisit early episodes in the struggle against colonial and cultural imperialism, from the first revolts against the Spanish administration in Cuba to the Haïtian Revolution. These filmmakers embrace anachronism over historical accuracy, collapsing the past and the present to invoke a revolutionary spirit that endures across centuries. Including rarely-screened landmarks of Third Cinema alongside daring new experiments in collective filmmaking, Retelling Resistance invites us to expand our conceptions of history, and to contemplate the struggles for justice and independence we still confront today.
Health and Safety Guidelines
Northwestern is closely monitoring developments related to the coronavirus pandemic and will follow local, state, and University guidelines for in-person events and museum visitation. All visitors must follow the Northwestern University COVID-19 Guidelines, which are in place at the time of visitation, including masking within the galleries and auditorium.
We plan for this program to be offered in person. Should public health or Northwestern campus guidelines evolve, we will contact guests about online presentation or cancelation.
Contact The Block Museum of Art for more information: (847) 491-4000 or email us at block-museum@northwestern.edu