ABOUT THE EVENT

A Container of Breath is a film projection and participatory performance dedicated to geoscientist, jazz musician, Tuskegee Airman and advocate for Black Studies, Randolph Bromery (1926-2003). The piece engages fleeting forms of commemoration and legacy maintenance. An experimental documentary film with a live sound score is the backdrop for oversized amplified cornhole boards which transform the space into one of recreational gathering.

The archive of Randolph Bromery is given temporary form through this work, which is a new chapter of Thompson’s ongoing Creative Capital supported project Surveying Gravity. The project draws upon sites of recreation as generative of informal community engagement, eroding disciplinary and academic boundaries to access and developing strategies for an activation of archival traces. This work is an outgrowth of Justin Randolph Thompson’s artist residency at the University of Maryland and is on view at the Clarvit Studio and Courtyard for Research in Art and Design.

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ABOUT NEXTNOW FEST

Started in 2014, Clarice Presents’ annual NextNOW Fest is an inspiring arts experience that celebrates imagination, creativity and community. In addition to the core festival nights at The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, we’re thrilled to continue partnerships with student-led groups, academic departments and university-based arts venues to hold festival events throughout campus.

NextNOW Fest is a signature event in University of Maryland's Arts for All initiative, which leverages the combined power of the arts, technology and social justice to address the grand challenges of our time.

FUNDING

NextNOW Fest is supported in part by the Maryland State Arts Council and The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation. Additional support is provided by Terps After Dark and the University of Maryland's Arts for All initiative. NextNOW Fest's Silent Disc-Glo event is supported by UMD's Student Entertainment Events; and the Vital Signs Mini-Grants Showcase is supported by the Venable Foundation and Pepsi.