Shamel Pitts | TRIBE

BLACK HOLE – Trilogy And Triathlon

Northrop and Walker Art Center will co-present BLACK HOLE – Trilogy and Triathlon, a creation by Shamel Pitts, artistic director/founder of the Brooklyn-based, Afrofuturistic arts collective, TRIBE. TRIBE’s mission is to cultivate space to create a platform for artists—most specifically artists of color—to "tell new stories and create a brighter future that is different, and shines more luminously, from its past."

• Afrofuturism is said to connect people from the African diaspora to their forgotten African ancestry. How might this ‘creation of a brighter future’ be inspired by imagining the experiences, hopes, and dreams of African American ancestors?
• Why is it important to unlock this imagination? Do you think that unlocking this imagination could potentially provide us with clues about how African American ancestors felt about the world around them?
• After viewing BLACK HOLE, what do you imagine the performance is sharing about the world in front of us?
• How do you think this space to dream and imagine is created for artists of color, especially in art spaces that are dominated by white culture? Why is it important for artists of color to cultivate identity-specific spaces?

The third installment of TRIBE’S "BLACK series," BLACK HOLE follows BLACK BOX and BLACK VELVET, and is described as “a kaleidoscopic performance art experience using movement, original sound, light projection, and visual art.” In a short interview with Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage, Shamel Pitts states, “The title is derived from the cosmic phenomenon of a black hole… this dimension of time and space that has the strongest gravitational pull, meaning everything in a black hole's axis gets condensed and swallowed into its core.”

• With an interdisciplinary work such as BLACK HOLE, what do you imagine the collaboration process was like? 
• Have you collaborated with anyone in a different field than yours? What did you learn from that collaboration?
• Do you think that including a scientific concept, like a black hole, makes dance accessible to a new audience? How might connections like these help people from different disciplines contextualize a performance? 
• Can you draw any parallels between scientific concepts and your life? When do you refer to these concepts as you are trying to make sense of your world?

BLACK HOLE is inspired by Afrofuturism, a genre that centers Black history and culture and incorporates science-fiction, technology, and futuristic elements into literature, music, and the visual arts. According to Angela Washington, Assistant Museum Librarian at The Met, Afrofuturism “focuses on works that examine the past, question the present, or imagine an optimistic future, and are meant to inspire a sense of pride in their audience.”

• What do you think caused the rise of Afrofuturism, especially considering the popularity of Black Panther directed by Ryan Coogler and Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler during the pandemic?
• How do you imagine the Afrofuturism movement will impact the African/African American community economically, socially, and politically in the next 10 years? 
• Do you believe that Afrofuturism intersects with social justice movements? Why or why not?