Another World is Possible
Pangea Artists Envision
"It’s been two years since the uprising and murder of George Floyd, two years of centering what should always have been the pillars of ethics — justice and equity and love and compassion for all. These seemed to be centered, a ray of hope pierced through the clouds of injustices of genocide and slavery and colonialism! And — that shutter — the small window seems to be closing and the status quo seems to have returned at a hot pace.
Once again, we are the brink of women not being able to have the rights
over her own bodies, billions are sanctioned in armaments, black lives are still taken with impunity. The litany of injustices go on not just in the U.S. but across the world.
Our breath is stifled and our exhales truncated.
This briefness of a performance of "equity'', the window dressings of justice, this heaviness of our soul cannot be the permanent state of our times.
In Pangea, we take on this moment to redefine the time. To try to ask the right questions. To not forget this moment. To go beyond drive-through equity measures. We do this through our thoughtful engagement with this time we search for sustainability and long term solutions — the eternity of dreaming to root out injustice and incarnate another possibility.
Pangea artists envision and embody the EXHALE that offers us space and time that are shaped by the dreams of an artful existence.
ANOTHER WORLD IS POSSIBLE"
— Dipankar Mukherjee, Artistic Director
Staff Projects
open water project
Open Water Project is a play by Suzanne Victoria Cross, Pangea World Theater's Resident Stage Manager. It is an attempt to address the violent act of covert racism that is concealed in the fabric of our society.
The play was performed on Zoom on Juneteenth, and the performance can be rewatched on YouTube by clicking below.
rising from concrete
What does it mean to rebuild, redistribute and ultimately grow amid civil & societal unrest?
Rising From Concrete was a performance of voice, movement, and color curated by Jenny Zander, Pangea World Theater's visual and documentation specialist. You can watch the film from the event now!
The burning truth project
Curated by Katia Cardenas, Pangea World Theater's Education Coordinator & Database Manager. A collaboration between Twin Cities singers Andrina Brogden, Sarah M. Greer, Katia Cardenas, with accompanist Kavyesh Kaviraj. Created in response to the current moment.
The piece was performed in August, followed by a video premiere online and another performance in September. Watch the video, below, and learn more here.
Photo by Jenny Zander
Mothers Respond
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Curated by Adlyn Carreras, Pangea World Theater's Office Manager and ensemble member.
Join us for drumming, song, and poetry in the park to honor George Floyd.
Artist and performance details coming soon!
Saturday, October 10, 2020, 5PM
Powderhorn Park (at the corner of 14th Ave. S. and E. 32nd St.)
physical & digital poetry zine
Curated by Emily Meenan, Pangea World Theater's Communications Coordinator, this zine's cover was designed by Noah Lawrence Holder and is full of poetry from local black artists. It will be available digitally and physically!
A digital launch event with readings from the poets is coming soon, stay tuned.
Sobre Los Muertos Las Coronas
Curated by Keila Anali Saucedo,
Pangea World Theater's Executive Productions Assistant
"Sobre Los Muertos Las Coronas means 'over the dead hang crowns'. This year for Día de Muerto, I wanted to express deep love and respect to those who we have lost senselessly. We have lost over 200,000 lives due to the mishandling of COVID-19.
We continue to lose Black people due to police brutality, including Miss Breonna Taylor and Mr. George Floyd. I wanted to offer an altar to honor our collective grief in this time of uprising, pandemic, and revolution."
A Redacted Requiem for the Wretched of the Earth
Curated by Ismail Khalidi,
Pangea World Theater's Directing Fellow
Poetry and text by Ismail Khalidi
Music by Hadi Eldebek
Film by Jenny Zander
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The 'war on terror' has cost millions of lives and displaced tens of millions more over the past 20 years. Trillions of dollars spent to kill and maim, to pollute, occupy and torture, to displace, surveille and censor. Large swaths of the Arab and Muslim world lay in ruins. Meanwhile, poverty, plague, hunger and inequality stalk the United states. Equipment used to subjugate abroad is funneled back home to unaccountable police departments. Before he was MPD, The man who killed George Floyd was military police at Fort Benning, the beating heart of torture training, coup-plotting and counter-insurgency for the Western hemisphere. This is no coincidence. Arms and Prisons, the Pentagon and policing; it is all part of the twisted economy of impoverishment and extraction, subjugation and distraction, white supremacy and empire. These things are inter-connected. So must be our mourning. And our resistance. The dead are with us, the disappeared by our side. This is our poem, our lamentation, our requiem, our mawwal.
This Is How We Stand:
A Multi-Disciplinary
Artistic Exploration
Curated by Suzanne Victoria Cross,
Pangea World Theater's Resident Stage Manager
Black artists explore the impact our healthcare system has had on their health and healing practices during this pandemic through multi-disciplinary artistic expression.
Artists
Curator/ Writer: Suzanne Victoria Cross
Facilitator: Ricardo Beaird
Movement Artist: DejaJoelle
Visual Artist: Briauna Williams
Pre-recorded Music: Cameron Kinghorn
Technical support/ Graphic Designer: Jenny Zander
Curator Statement from Suzanne Victoria Cross:
I believe empathy and true compassion for others can be reached in many different ways. One of the ways is experiencing empathy through multiple forms of artistic expression. When movement and dance spark the movement of the paint brush, pen, or voice, we create art centered in deep understanding. During this presentation, Black artists will respond to their unique experiences of navigating our healthcare system and the impact it has had on their own health, wellness and care practices during this pandemic. Movement, imagery and text will be used to explore this theme with compassionate empathy.
Beyond Climate Anxiety
Into Action: Poetry Workshop by Bernard Ferguson
Curated by Mollie Lacy,
Pangea World Theater's Development Associate
The climate crisis is one of the most pressing, urgent issues facing humanity. The language we use to address the climate crisis impacts what we imagine to be possible.
Writers of all experience levels were invited to learn how to use their craft in service of climate justice with Bernard Ferguson.
The Burning truth Project 2022
Curated by Katia Cardenas,
Pangea World Theater's Development Associate
In the summer of 2022, we re-mounted The Burning Truth Project to continue this musical conversation and response to the events and circumstances in our city and around the globe. We still have truths burning within us, waiting to be expressed.
The Burning Truth Project (BTP) is a 90-minute performance that weaves together songs and story with a space to share and reflect some of the many thoughts, lessons and feelings we have been holding as a community since summer of 2020. We invite you to join us as we once again share what we have discussed and discovered together, in the Burning Truth Project. Presented as a part of Pangea World Theater's "Another World is Possible: Pangea Artists Envision" series.
The 2022 performances included 1 live-streamed performance — a Friday evening performance — from Walker|West in St. Paul, and 2 live shows — a Saturday evening show and a Sunday matinee — outdoors on the lawn at East Side Freedom Library in Saint Paul.
Vocalists Andrina Brogden, Katia Cardenas and Sarah M. Greer are joined by Theo Brown on keys, Miguel Hurtado on drums, and Nii Mensah on bass, with TruArtSpeaks poets Fatima Camara and Donte Collins. Original artwork by Jordan M. Hamilton.
Photo by Bruce Silcox