Black Future Festival

Join us for a week of reflection and future-forward fun inspired by the national celebration of the African Diaspora and Black History Month. With our guest curator, Kendra J. Bostock and STooPS, we’ll be presenting workshops, dance performances, storytelling, and more.

SCHEDULE

Tuesday, February 20

NYICFF In Your Neighborhood

New York International Children’s Film Festival (NYICFF) presents an exclusive collection of family-friendly, award-winning short films.

10:30 am – 11:20 am & 3:00 pm – 3:50 pm

Fiber Arts Cultural Mask-Making

Did you know there’s a bit of an artist in all of us? Let’s make cultural masks using materials like cowrie shells, yarn, pipe cleaners, tape, raffia, and construction paper. Creative minds are working hands! Led by Ramona Kearns.

11:00 am – 11:45 am

Adinkra Portals: Visual Art

Adinkra symbols were created by the Akan people of Ghana. The symbols represent qualities of character and life principles. This workshop is inspired by Lorraine O’Grady’s 1983 “Art Is…” performance, in which paraders framed bystanders in gold frames, transforming them into a piece of art to behold. Participants can make a frame from repurposed materials, decorate them with adinkra symbols, and then take a picture with it, framing themselves as a work of art adorned by a collection of powerful symbols. Led by Pia Monique Murray.

12:15 pm – 1:00 pm

Connecting to Ancestral Intelligence: Plant Allies For Children

This workshop is an opportunity for children to explore the plants as allies through sensed understanding. Participants will have the opportunity to learn about plants that surround them every day and create a winter plant snow globe of their favorite plant ally. Led by Renee K. Smith.

2:30 pm – 3:15 pm

Hip Hop Dance Fun!

Step into the vibrant world of hip hop with this exciting dance class designed just for kids! From choreography to freestyling fun, this class will guide young dancers through energetic exercises and routines that foster creativity, coordination, and confidence. Get ready to groove, giggle, and grow in this high-energy class where every step is a celebration of music and movement! Led by Kadeem Alston-Roman.

4:00 pm – 4:45 pm

Afrofuturistic Comic Covers

Join us in ColorLab to design your own Afrofuturistic comic book cover, inspired by the work of author and illustrator, John Jennings.

10:30 am – 12:30 pm & 2:30 pm – 4:30 pm

Vendor: Filly Luv