BSA- The Hidden Messages In Water

The PennDesign Black Student Alliance (BSA) is hosting a multi-media spoken word performance by artist/activist Naima Penniman, half of the internationally acclaimed performance art duo, Climbing PoeTree (Alixa&Naima). Naima will be sharing excerpts from their groundbreaking multi-media show, “Hurricane Season: the hidden messages in water” that connects the issues that surfaced in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina to the “unnatural disasters” disenfranchised communities are experiencing nationwide and worldwide on a daily basis. Check out the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SW6Qke3uXaY

The performance reflects domestic and global themes pertaining to water, which relate to race, class, gender, and social injustice while highlighting the tragic events surrounding Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The poetry reveals the creative potency of the shifting time we are living in: the opportunity inherent in disaster to make a radical difference in the way we relate to ourselves, each other, and the planet. The show will serve as a provocative precursor to the design school’s In the Terrain of Water conference scheduled on April 1-2nd, while introducing a Water dialogue that captures values of inclusion, truth-telling and social justice, which are relevant to BSA’s mission.

Climbing PoeTree is a Brooklyn-based performance group that uses art as a tool for popular education, community organizing, and personal transformation. The duo has performed and led arts and education workshops at schools, prisons, and community spaces as well as cultural, film and music festivals worldwide. www.climbingpoetree.com