Ceremony for Revolutionary Seeds: Historic Johnson Cemetery Memorial Park

Revolutionary Acts is a Monument Lab performance and public art series for 2026 that explores the histories of the American Revolution through contemporary forms of commemoration, asking: What revolutionary stories shape who we are today? Rooted in New Jersey, and following a statewide open call for artists, Idlewild Experiential and Nandi Jordan were selected to produce Ceremony for Revolutionary Seeds, a traveling installation and participatory ritual series.
The project centers the often-overlooked contributions of Black women in Revolutionary-era New Jersey through a sculptural ceremonial structure, guided tea rituals, site-based performances, and hands-on art-making workshops. Each activation runs from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., with a thirty minute performance beginning at 12:00 p.m. By activating historic locations across the state, Ceremony for Revolutionary Seeds invites residents and visitors to reflect on memory, resilience, and the stories that continue to shape civic life.
Ceremony for Revolutionary Seeds is produced by Idlewild Experiential and Nandi Jordan in partnership with Monument Lab. The project is supported by the New Jersey Department of State through the New Jersey State Council on the Arts (a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts), the New Jersey Historical Commission, and RevolutionNJ with programmatic support from the New Jersey State Library.