Visibility & Resistance, Family Day

Attend Family Day on the opening weekend of Visibility & Resistance! We invite patrons of all ages to join us for tours, art making, a Danza de los Diablos mask workshop with artists and performer Baltazar Castellano Melo and Hugo Arellanes Antonio, and an interactive presentation of the Danza de los Diablos (Dance of the Devils), a celebrated traditional dance in Afro-Mexican communities from the coastal regions of Guerrero and Oaxaca.

Visibility & Resistance: New Acquisitions, Contemporary Afro-Mexican Photography, curated by Dr. Dalila Scruggs, highlights the Schomburg Center's recent acquisition of contemporary Afro-Mexican photography by Hugo Arellanes Antonio (Costa Chica), Toumani Camara (Mexico City), Koral Carballo (Veracruz) and Dolores Mendel (Veracruz). Historically shaped by photographers of European descent, this exhibition foregrounds the voices and vision of a multiplicity of afro-descendent identities as the photographers examine self-representation, highlight the presence of African cultural traditions, meditate on the (dis)connection to place, and critique the ongoing effects of slavery and systemic racism.

Activities will be available in English and Spanish. Note: Space is limited; first come,

first served.

12 PM - 1:30 PM

Letters From Home Artmaking, facilitated by Schomburg Junior Scholars Program Staff

12:30 PM (ongoing)

Tours of Visibility & Resistance: New Acquisitions, Contemporary Afro-Mexican Photography (12:30PM, 1:30 PM, & 3:30 PM)

1:30 PM - 3:00 PM

Danza de los Diablos (Dance of the Devils)Mask Making

3:15 PM

Join in a community presentation of Danza de los Diablos, celebrated traditional dance in Afro-Mexican communities from the coastal regions of Guerrero and Oaxaca. The procession will be led by artists and performer Baltazar Castellano Melo.

Baltazar Castellano Melo (Cuajinicuilapa, Guerrero, 1983) is a plastic artist who graduated with a degree in Plastic and Visual Arts from the Faculty of Fine Arts of the Universidad Autónoma Benito Juárez de Oaxaca (UABJO). He is an engraver, creator and muralist with a career spanning more than 20 years. He has exhibited individually and collectively in various national and international forums. His mural work is known abroad, he has created murals in cities such as Barcelona and Panama, as well as in national venues: the CASA in San Agustín Etla, Oaxaca; the Amparo Museum of Puebla, the Image Center, the Museum of Popular Cultures and the Museum of San Ildefonso. He recently presented an intervened cow within the CowParade México 2023 on the Paseo de la Reforma in Mexico City and in the city of Torreón, Coahuila. He painted two murals at the University of New Orleans that were inaugurated in February 2024.

Support provided in part by Mexico-United States Commission for Educational and Cultural Exchange (COMEXUS)

ASL interpretation and additional accessibility requests can be made by e-mail to [email protected].

Header Image: Photograph by Hugo Arellanes Antonio

#SchomburgLive

Image: Photograph by Koral Carballo

GUESTS There is no food or drinks allowed anywhere in the Schomburg Center unless provided by presenting organization or the Schomburg Center.

E-TRANSPORTATION NYPL policy prohibits electric transportation devices (e.g., motorbikes, e-bikes, e-scooters, e-skateboards) from being brought into or stored at library sites for any length of time, as this is the best way to keep our spaces & people safe.

AUDIO/VIDEO RECORDING Programs are photographed and recorded by the Schomburg Center. Attending this event indicates your consent to being filmed/photographed and your consent to the use of your recorded image for any all purposes of the New York Public Library.

PRESS Please send all press inquiries (photo, video, interviews, audio-recording, etc) at least 24-hours before the day of the program to Leah Drayton at [email protected].

Please note that professional video recordings are prohibited without expressed consent.

IN-PERSON | By registering for this event, you are acknowledging that an inherent risk of exposure to COVID-19 exists in any public place where people are present. By attending an in-person program at The New York Public Library’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, you voluntarily assume all risks related to exposure to COVID-19 and agree not to hold The New York Public Library, its Trustees, officers, agent and employees liable for any illness or injury.

Host or Publisher Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture