The African Film Festival is joining up with Snug Harbor for a day of art and film as we present a botanical craft workshop led by acclaimed artist Xenobia Bailey and a screening of the documentary film With Peter Bradley.
WHEN: September 9 | 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM
WHERE: Gazebo Lawn behind Building K at Snug Harbor (View campus map and directions here)
Rain location: Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art, Gallery G
ADMISSION:
Botanical Craft Workshop: Free | Space is limited–pre-registration required here
6pm – Botanical Craft Workshop
Combining a range of cultural and experiential influences—including her mother’s skill of upcycling found materials into home décor and her own education in industrial design—Xenobia Bailey has become well known for her large-scale crocheted mandalas. In this workshop, Bailey leads guests in the creation of bouquets made from recycled paper. At the end of the workshop, each piece will be used to create a still life photo. Each participant is welcome to take their creation home in a recycled glass bottle which will serve as a vase.
8pm – Screening of With Peter Bradley
The screening of With Peter Bradley takes place at sunset on the Gazebo Lawn. Bring a blanket to sit in the grass and watch the movie under the stars!
Directed by Alex Rappoport / USA / 2023 / 86mins / Documentary
When filmmaker Alex Rappoport met then-79-year-old abstract artist Peter Bradley in the winter of 2020, Bradley hadn’t sold many paintings nor had a major show in over four decades – yet he still painted every day in a shipping container studio heated by a wood stove. Over time, the pair recorded Peter’s fascinating story, seemingly overlooked in art history. Bradley was the first Black haute art dealer in New York; likely the first Black abstract artist represented by a major New York gallery; and curator of what is considered the first integrated modern art show in America. Talented, willful and arrogant, Bradley lived life to its fullest – until he fell upon hard times in the 1980s that nearly ended his career.
At once an intimate portrait and a deep study of creative process, With Peter Bradley is situated entirely at the artist’s rural home and studio, and unfolds over the course of changing seasons. The sole figure on screen, Bradley narrates his life in a series of conversations: often provocative, sometimes bitter, and full of surprises. We meet the artist at a critical juncture – deeply committed to the expressive power of color, painting gorgeous pictures at a prolific pace, but without an audience to appreciate them. Despite this lack of recognition, the film is buoyed by Peter’s exuberant spirit and warm sense of humor.
African Film Festival, Inc. (AFF) is dedicated to advancing an enhanced understanding of African culture through the moving image. It offers diverse platforms for the wide distribution of African media through its flagship annual film festival and complementary year-round programming. AFF is committed to increasing visibility and recognition for African media artists by introducing African film and culture to a broad range of audiences in the United States and abroad, bypassing economic, class and racial barriers. In 1990, AFF’s founders established goals that continue to enrich the organization mission and organizational development: To use African cinema to promote and increase knowledge and understanding of African arts, literature and culture; To develop an audience for African films; To expand the opportunities for the distribution of African films in the United States and abroad.
